The Dragonstone Tribe
by UnknownBlackHand
Summary: Sequel to: Resurfaced and a Dragonstone. After the last climatic battle with Drago Bludvist, what sort of troubles can the Hairy Hooligan tribe get into next? Well when an enemy arises, and a new baby in the Hooligan tribe, things are bound to go haywire for the Chief.
1. Chapter 1 Family Ties

**Chapter One: The Family Ties**

It happened again…

The beloved couple known as Hiccup and Astrid had just finished a lovely romantic dinner, they stood up, kissed, and Astrid puked all over her husband and Chief. By now, it had happened several times, and he managed to keep his groans of disgust to himself.

What was to be expected? Astrid was now several months pregnant.

"I-I-I'm so s-sorry, Hic-Hiccup!" Astrid stammered through her uncharacteristic sobs.

"Hey, it's alright, it washes out better than Night Fury saliva." He told her calmly. He motioned for the on looking dragons to look away as he removed his somewhat raggedy clothing and soaked them in a ready-made washtub. He proceeded to walk up the stairs, his arm linked with Astrid's. Once in the bedroom, he donned another set of raggedy old clothes and assisted Astrid into bed.

Ever since the third time Astrid puked on him, he stitched up several sets of clothing for himself using remnants of burnt-up clothing and rags. He only wore them around the house in case any accidents, such as this night's, happened. Astrid didn't like them, but understood why Hiccup wanted them; and to keep her from ruining her own nice clothes, Hiccup fashioned her a robe of rags which actually looked a lot nicer than the garments he made for himself; that way, Astrid could wear something a bit more aesthetically pleasing, but had something to protect her nice clothing in case she was feeling queasy.

While Hiccup was pulling away the covers, allowing Astrid to stretch out on the bed, he took note of the false foot that she had to wear now, and he recalled the day she lost it. He didn't like to dwell on it, but that battle still haunted his memory as if it happened only yesterday. He pulled the blanket over Astrid, climbed into the bed himself, and left enough room for a certain Night Fury hatchling to climb onto his pillow, and nap on it.

Hiccup wrapped an arm over Astrid's belly. It had been six months by now, and he could pick up the slight movements their child was making inside her. As Hiccup fell asleep, he recalled the day of their announcement…

* * *

><p><em>Flashback:<em>

Astrid had been behaving oddly for a while, and had been spending a lot of time around Midnightfire, a blue Night Fury hatchling with some silver scales on her body. It wasn't that she was spending time with the dragon that was odd; it was what she was doing with the dragon. Astrid kept carrying her around the house like some sort of cat. At first, Midnightfire didn't mind it, but as Astrid continued to do it, Hiccup often found her up in the rafters of their newly-built house (after their first one had been burnt to the ground in a battle), and then he would find Astrid looking up at her sadly wanting to be holding the young dragon.

It wasn't until the first time she puked when Hiccup took her to Gothi's, and that was the day they found out that they've been blessed with a child. It called for a celebration, so they invited their parents and their dragons and made their special announcement.

"Congratulations, Son." Stoick had told Hiccup with a clap to the shoulder that sent him to the floor. He was promptly picked up by Astrid's parents and pulled into a tight hug, and they were bombarded with questions ranging from what gender they wanted the baby to be and what names they would consider.

* * *

><p>After recalling that wonderful day, Hiccup's lips twisted into a small smile, and as he began to doze off he felt Midnightfire curl up on the remaining space on his pillow. Yeah, everything was wonderful in the Haddock house.<p>

By that morning, Hiccup woke up to the sound of Midnightfire's screech from the rafters. He sat up and found Astrid reaching for her.

"Astrid, that is a Night Fury, not your baby." Hiccup told her. To his own distress, Astrid looked at him with sad eyes. He couldn't stand those eyes, as they made him want to give in to her on the spot, and Astrid knew it.

Hiccup extended his arm and called Midnightfire to him. She flew from the rafters and onto Hiccup's arm. Astrid looked at the pair of them with a sense of betrayal, until Hiccup motioned her over. When Astrid extended both arms to grab Midnightfire, Hiccup told her: "Astrid, I'm merely allowing you to _pet_ Midnightfire. You are not taking her off of my arm."

She cast Hiccup a quick glare, but she gave Midnightfire a little scratch on the neck before Hiccup showed the young dragon to the window, allowing her to escape Astrid's clutches. She flew off to play with friends her own age and species (not necessarily breed though).

Hiccup got out of the bed, fitted his prosthetic on, donned his nice uniform for the day, and went down to make breakfast.

"What are you hungry for today, Astrid?" Hiccup asked.

"A Yak's liver and eel omelet!" She replied with a big smile. Hiccup looked at her and shook his head, her cravings were so weird, just the other day ago she cooked up a chicken with a stuffing made with bits of eel in it; and since Astrid's craving for eels, Toothless, his family, and Stormfly had been staying clear of the kitchen.

The moment that Hiccup started cooking the eel, the dragons cleared their way out of the house. At least the meal didn't take long to prepare, and after cooking it and setting it in front of Astrid, he figured that he couldn't bear to stomach anything heavier than a plate of scrambled eggs.

Just after breakfast, Hiccup heard a knock on the door and found Helga the Mace Menace Thorsten outside their door with two freshly made loaves of bread for them.

"Astrid asked for these yesterday." She told Hiccup.

"Oh, thank you, Helga, I'm sure that she'll love them, as always." He replied. Helga may be the Mace Menace, but her baking is fit to feed the gods. He brought the bread inside, and went off to do his regular duties as the Chief.

Ever since the last battle with Drago, the village had been rebuilt, it took less time than they had imagined, however Alvin and his tribe of Outcasts helped them out and there wasn't a single minute of rest for the sound of hammers banging until Berk was a village again, and a village fit for dragons as well as people. That was ow the Dragon Chief liked it.

Before, his regular duties were to help the village in any way he could; whether it was joining fleets to go pillaging, bringing in fish for everyone, working on the reconstruction, or relieving Gobber of his annoying duty of making nothing but nails for a few hours. Now, things have calmed down by a lot! He was just making sure that nobody had been getting into any trouble.

* * *

><p>At the end of the day, Hiccup brought home a boar to roast for dinner, and found that Astrid was trying to catch Midnightfire again. He looked over to Toothless and Sapphire, and asked them: "Why aren't you doing anything about this?"<p>

"We tried, but every time we try and interfere, Astrid starts crying." Sapphire replied.

"Besides, she's not hurting Midnightfire, and this way she's actually working as our hatchling-sitter." Toothless added. Hiccup rolled his eyes to himself and looked over to Astrid. She had Midnightfire cornered, but the young Night Fury had her own Dragonstone, and she knew how to use it. With a claw, Midnight prepared to tap on the Dragonstone set in her gauntlet, seeing this, Hiccup tried to get in between the two of them, but he was too late. A mystical bolt discharged from Midnightfire's stone, and zapped Astrid. She reeled back from the dragon as lilac scales overtook her skin.

Hiccup knew that Astrid was turning into a Stormcutter dragon, but he wasn't worried about her as this wasn't even her second time she was turned into a dragon. She turned herself in order to better help Berk during the rebuilding process for the second time. However, he was worried about the baby she was carrying. How would this affect their child?

"I'm sorry, Uncle Hiccup, but I had to defend myself." Midnightfire spoke.

"So you turned her into a dragon!" Hiccup exclaimed.

"Now my parents won't let her try to snatch me." Midnightfire replied. The family looked down to where Astrid laid herself down for the transformation, and found the beautiful lilac Stormcutter with blue accents and blue eyes.

"She did have it coming, although, I am worried about what happened to the baby." Hiccup stated. For now, Astrid was just laying on the floor, but when she woke up, she wouldn't be too happy.

* * *

><p><strong>The UnknownBlackHand is back with trouble already brewing on Chapter One! Things may just get crazier than the first story. <strong>


	2. Chapter 2 Baby Talk

**Chapter Two: Baby Talk**

When Astrid woke up she was in a mood. She couldn't believe that Midnightfire had the nerve to do this on purpose!

"Astrid, are you alright?" Hiccup asked her while sitting on the staircase, as far as behavior was concerned, Astrid would be a real wildcard. Would she be angry or sad? She looked up at Hiccup with sad eyes… Good, he can deal with a sad dragon easier than an angry one. He got up from his spot slowly and approached her with caution. Being both pregnant and in a dragon form, he wasn't sure if some draconic instincts would kick in as he moved towards her. He paused to open the door to the house in case Astrid felt the need to take off somewhere. Even with only one foot, Astrid could get around just fine as a Stormcutter.

"Astrid…?" Hiccup spoke.

"How could she do this to me?" She asked.

"She didn't want to be held by you is all. It was a defense maneuver. Now, is everything alright with the baby?" Hiccup asked. By now the Night Fury Hatchling took flight to find cover from Astrid again.

At Hiccup's question, Astrid's widened and the claw on one of her four wings met her enlarged belly. She met Hiccup's eyes with fright and replied with panic in her voice: "I-I don't know! I can't feel anything!"

"Astrid, it's okay, calm down; dragons don't normally feel their young while the eggs are still being made." Stormfly told her. Everyone settled down after hearing that.

"Alright, Stormfly, then what is normal for a pregnant dragon to experience before she lays her eggs?" Astrid asked, her voice calmer.

"I'll go see where Midnightfire flew off to." Toothless stated as an excuse to get out of there.

"While the eggs are inside the mother, the mother does feel the weight of the eggs inside her, and the closer they are to being laid, the more often the dragon would feel her eggs quiver inside her. You've said that your baby kicks you; well that is how a dragon egg 'kicks' its mother. Now, unlike what you've displayed, dragons don't get nauseous when they're pregnant, however we do have a ravenous appetite, and you give off a scent that will drive your mate to protect you at all costs. If there is no mate to be found around you, then the next male to come near you without a mate of his own will take his place until the female's mate returns if possible. This only works if the next male is the same breed as the female though; other males won't act as friendly. So, Astrid, in your case, the moment Cloudjumper catches your scent, he would act as your bodyguard until you lay you egg or, most likely, you turn back into a human." Stormfly stated.

"So, when Midnightfire zapped Astrid, she also transformed the baby?" Hiccup questioned.

"Yes, a dragon cannot carry a human baby, even if the mother was born a human herself." Stormfly replied. Noticing the mixed emotions on Hiccup and Astrid's faces, Stormfly told them: "Chances are that your child would have a few draconic characteristics when it is born, but I am not completely certain; and there is no telling as to what draconic characteristics the child would have if they have any at all."

Hiccup went from a standing position, to sitting on the floor, with his back leaning against the wall, and his head was swarming with what possible dragon characteristics their child could have. Now, he would obviously love his son or daughter no matter what, but he would fear about how the villagers would treat a child so… unique! After all, he himself had been picked on for just being small, scrawny, fishbone.

"Should I be flying in this form?" Astrid asked.

"Mothering dragons are encouraged to fly as a form of training for the migration. Flying while carrying eggs inside of you feels very different than flying without them, due to their weight and their occasional quivering. If you feel the urge to fly in this form, then go on and fly, but don't be pulling off any crazy stunts, just stick to the basics unless you are in a dangerous situation." Stormfly replied.

Astrid nodded to Stormfly and then glanced at her husband, and exclaimed: "Hiccup, are you alright?!"

"Yeah, yeah, I-I think I'll turn in for the night, this has been interesting, Stormfly, but it is a lot to process." He replied.

* * *

><p>On that morning, Hiccup, basically took the day off. If anybody needed anything, they would have to go to him. After picking at a breakfast of bread and berries, he headed for the Dragon Training Academy where Valka was teaching Berk everything to know about the Scuttleclaw dragons (the babies from the second movie). Hiccup really wasn't all that interested in that particular lecture right now.<p>

Hiccup waited until the area cleared out before going inside the academy himself while Valka fed the dragons as a job well done.

"Hiccup, what are you still doing here?" She asked.

"It's Astrid." He replied hesitantly.

"Is she alright? Is the baby alright?" Valka asked.

"As far as health is concerned, yes, she is, and so is the baby. Can we talk at your house?"

"Of course." Valka replied.

The pair made it to the house without any interruptions, which made Hiccup thank the gods as he crossed the threshold to his parents' house. Cloudjumper and Shadowrath greeted him before meeting up with his father; and to his dismay, his egotistic Uncle Spitelout, and his obnoxious, nine-fingered, scar-faced, butt-scarred Cousin Snotlout were at the house too. Ah, what the heck, they were still his family, and they had a right to hear what Hiccup had to say.

"Mornin' Son, how's the family doing?" Stoick asked.

"Astrid and our dragons are fine, but um, things could be a bit different for Astrid." Hiccup replied. Stoick wasn't expecting that answer.

"So what's going on with the wife?" Spitelout asked. Hiccup wished that it wasn't _him_ who asked that question, but nevertheless, he answered: "You all know that Astrid's pregnancy has made her, for lack of a better term, crazy around Midnightfire?"

"Is she still treating your 'niece' as if she was her own baby?" Valka asked.

"Yes, and last night Midnightfire finally snapped when Astrid tried to grab her again… And she used her Dragonstone gauntlet to turn Astrid into a Stormcutter again." Hiccup replied.

"Is the baby alright?" Stoick asked.

"Apparently the baby will be fine… but it was affected when Astrid changed." Hiccup admitted, forcing the words out of his mouth and turning red slightly. As he feared, Snotlout started laughing.

"That is going to be one messed-up kid!" He exclaimed through his chuckles. That angered Hiccup, and he removed the panel that concealed the Dragonstone in his shoulder armor. The sight of the beautiful, glowing gem silenced Snotlout. The mere sight of the Dragonstone reminded Snotlout of the time Hiccup and Toothless had gotten curious and wanted to walk in each other's shoes, and they swapped roles for three days. Hiccup as a Night Fury, and Toothless as a human. During this time, Snotlout and Hookfang challenged them to a one-on-one race, and the pair humiliated him. Hiccup made a better dragon and Toothless made a better rider than Snotlout had imagined. The sight also made him recall the story as to how it saved Hiccup's life, and he later clawed the nose off of Drago Bludvist.

"Ok, ok, I'm sorry! No need to become a literal Dragon Chief!" Snotlout exclaimed, holding up his hands in surrender.

"So, Hiccup, are you saying that it is likely that your baby is going to have some dragon characteristics?" Spitelout asked.

"That's what Stormfly… Hold on, where's Cloudjumper?" Hiccup said. The family, including Shadowrath, looked around the house, and Cloudjumper was nowhere to be found. So they ran over to Hiccup's home, and about halfway there, they found six dragons leaving the house and taking flight. There were supposed to be five.

Cloudjumper was chasing four of the dragons around, while a lilac Stormcutter headed towards Hiccup and his family.

"Cloudjumper found me and caught my scent! I couldn't get him to calm down when he started chasing the other dragons out of the house." Astrid told Hiccup.

"You didn't do anything wrong, but Cloudjumper needs to be brought under control. Mom, do you think that you can calm him down, or should we have Aric take care of him?" He replied.

"A Bewilderbeast isn't necessary for this. Cloudjumper is acting on instinct, so he's not doing anything wrong. Astrid, try calling him, maybe he'll leave your dragons alone." Valka stated. Astrid took a deep breath and roared Cloudjumper's name at the top of her lungs. It caught his attention, and as he descended towards his family, he snatched a fish from the dragon buffet for Astrid.

Astrid accepted his gift and then he chased off the humans.

"Are you going to leave me alone at all for the next couple of days?" Astrid asked him. Cloudjumper shook his head; in order for him to leave Astrid alone he would be fighting his instincts.

Hiccup went about his day, just checking in on how things were doing with people; but today, there wasn't a lot to be done for him. They didn't even have to plan for another dragon race for a while.

Eventually, he ran into Princess Claudette, fiancé to Fishlegs now, and walking alongside the Princess was a Skrill by the name of Whoshadow. Ever since Claudette's parents approved of Fishlegs as her suitor, and her wishes to live with the Vikings, she had decided to make a warrior out of herself to fit in more. She was talented with a bow and a sword, like Hiccup, but since her frame was still delicate, she couldn't wield an axe or a hammer, and she could just barely throw a bola effectively. However, when she's got a hold of a bow or a sword, it would be a wise idea for the Vikings to retreat, as she not only learned the Viking's fighting techniques, but she also studied the techniques of her kingdom.

Claudette had also decided to use ink to dye her hair from the prim-and-proper-princess gold to a warrior-princess black, which looked beautiful and made her green eyes look wild and somewhat crazed when she was training. She also typically wore a red tunic with blue sleeves, the colors of her kingdom, and black trousers.

As for her relationship with Whoshadow, well after finding out that she was the dragon that finished off Drago, Claudette took an interest in the beast. After all, Drago had put her under his control. So she started bringing Whoshadow legs of mutton, and after Whoshadow saw that she was becoming a capable warrior, she decided that Claudette was worth bonding with.

"Good morning, Claudette and Whoshadow." Hiccup greeted.

"Good morning, Chief Hiccup." Claudette replied. She then reached into her saddlebag and pulled out a small wool blanket, knitted with a blue background and the Berk crest knitted in red. It was the perfect size to swaddle a baby, and to cover a toddler.

"Here, I knitted this for your child. I dyed the wool and knitted it myself." Claudette told Hiccup.

"Thank you, this is very generous." He replied.

"Well, it's the least I can do for you."

"Claudette, Astrid knows it wasn't your fault when you cut off her foot, and Whoshadow already took care of the man whose fault it was."

"It doesn't remove the guilt… but my growing friendship with Astrid does." She replied.

"Hold on, the two of you are _friends?_" Hiccup questioned. He knew that the two women were getting along, but he wasn't too sure that they've gone as far as to making a friendship.

"Yeah, not long after I bonded with Whoshadow, she offered to teach me a few tricks with Stormfly. I'll admit that Whoshadow was quicker to make friends with Stormfly than I was with Astrid, but after giving her chocolate, and satisfying her cravings for it later on, we've been getting closer." Claudette replied.

"Well, it's nice that the two of you are getting along, and how're things between you and Fishlegs?"

"We've set a date, but my parents want the ceremony in my kingdom."

"Well that's great! I'll be sure that we'll have a good ship ready for you when you need it." Hiccup stated.

"You're going to need more than one. The whole tribe is invited!" Claudette replied. Now that was a lot to take in.

"I think we can handle that. Aric seems to be pretty happy being the island's line of defense." Hiccup told her. Yeah, the Vikings trust the dragons enough to protect the village without destroying it. Hiccup then smiled at the princess and asked her: "Out of curiosity, what would your parents say when they find out that you've become a warrior?"

"My father would have a conniption fit. While my mother would pass out." She replied. Then she told Hiccup: "Now, please excuse me, Chief Hiccup, but I would like to take Whoshadow out for her flight." The princess hopped on her saddle, and Whoshadow took to the skies with speeds that could compare to a Night Fury's.

Hiccup watched Whoshadow fly around for a while until Fishlegs and Meatlug joined them. With nothing better to do, he took Toothless out for a flight.

* * *

><p><strong>Ok, now it's time to tell you all that I'm taking votes for the gender of Hiccup and Astrid's baby, and I'm taking name suggestions as well as suggestions to possible draconic characteristics for this child.<strong>


	3. Chapter 3 Those Damn Instincts!

**Chapter Three: Those Damn Instincts! **

**Warning: Possibly some disturbing content to follow.**

**Warning: If you are drinking anything, this chapter may pose as a choking hazard. **

During the night, Cloudjumper spent it at Hiccup's house. His presence started to drive Toothless crazy; as the Stormcutter would drive him away as soon as he cast a glance in Astrid's general direction.

"Oh come on, you let Stormfly, Sapphire, and Midnightfire near her!" Toothless complained. Cloudjumper roared and drove him out of the house.

Toothless returned with Hiccup a moment later. Cloudjumper roared and spread his four wings at them, but made no other defensive moves towards them. Hiccup sent Cloudjumper a glare and told him: "She is _my_ mate, you can leave her alone now."

Cloudjumper roared at him again, not saying anything, just making a lot of noise and trying to look as menacing as possible. Hiccup was having none of it, he went to the kitchen, and pulled out one of Astrid's smoked eels and held it in front of Cloudjumper. The Stormcutter let out a shriek, but extended two wings to block Hiccup from Astrid.

"Hiccup, he's not thinking logically. All he sees is a male human when he looks at you. The only way he'll see you as Astrid's mate is if he sees the two of you as the same breed." Stormfly spoke as she tiptoed around Hiccup to get out of the same room as that eel. Hiccup rolled his eyes to himself and tossed the eel aside. Astrid made a move towards the eel, but Cloudjumper blocked her way, and the distraction was enough for Hiccup to sneak past Cloudjumper and tuck himself under one of Astrid's wings while Cloudjumper swept the eel out of the house with his tail.

After incinerating the eel, Cloudjumper turned back into the house and noticed that the Dragon Chief was nowhere to be found, and Toothless ran upstairs to his bed. He sniffed around and found Hiccup's hiding spot.

That was when Astrid retaliated at Cloudjumper:

"ENOUGH! He is my mate, and he can stay at my side if he wants to!" She roared; but Cloudjumper would have none of it. Astrid was a pregnant female, and Hiccup was a male intruder. With his foot, Cloudjumper picked up Hiccup, and flew him out of the house!

Cloudjumper flew across the village with Hiccup in his claws. He hovered over one house for a while, and dropped Hiccup into an open roof window. The window's typical use was to allow dragons fly in and out of the house.

Hiccup got up to his feet, and listened closely to see if anyone was home. He wished he didn't, though; because while he was listening for a presence in the house, he heard the moaning and gasping of a pair of lovers 'doing it'.

_Oh great, could this get anymore awkward?_ Hiccup thought to himself. He just had to think that!

"OH, OH MY, SSSSTTTOOOOOOOOOIIIIIIIIIIICCKK!" The woman's climax sounded from the floor. Hiccup's eyes widened when he heard the climax; but at least the occupants of the house were no longer a mystery.

_Oh gods, I've got to get out of here and _kill_ Cloudjumper!_ Hiccup thought.

"Yes milady, you are welcome." Stoick said from below.

"Let's do it again!" Valka replied.

Hiccup, now completely grossed out, was resisting the urge to scream with all his strength. He _had_ to get out of the house, but he sure as hell wasn't going to go downstairs to make his escape, and he didn't want to have to resort to turning into a dragon. He walked to the opposite wall of the room, started hearing his parents moaning, and charged to the window. He jumped, grabbed the frame, and let out a grunt.

"Hold up, did you hear something?" Valka asked from below.

Hiccup cursed inside his head as he heard his parents moving downstairs. From the hushed voices, he could tell that they were looking for their clothes. He hoisted himself up with his legs kicking about, and then he heard the sound of his prosthetic make contact with the wall.

_Damn it they would've heard that!_ Hiccup cursed inside his head.

Sure enough, just as he was halfway out the window, Stoick and Valka entered the room. Hiccup gave up and dropped to the ground, put on a brave face and faced his parents.

"Hiccup, what are you doing here? How did you get in here?" Valka asked.

"Cloudjumper's gone crazy, and he dropped me in here." Hiccup replied. He then excused himself and escaped the house with the speed that could've matched a Strike class dragon!

He retreated to the spare room in the smithy, where he designed Toothless' first tail, and slept in there for the night.

* * *

><p>When Hiccup woke up that next morning, he marched right over to his house, as for what he was going to do, he didn't know. All he knew was that he was going to face Cloudjumper. He grabbed a container of dragon nip before leaving, and as he walked past the fish buffet, he grabbed a salmon, and seasoned it with the dragon nip. It was an improvised trick but he hoped it would work.<p>

Before entering the house, Hiccup creaked the door open and threw the seasoned fish inside. Cloudjumper perked up and moved towards the fish, but once he caught the scent of dragon nip, he mellowed out, and collapsed after eating the salmon into a happy nap. Hiccup was just about to enter the house, but Astrid got up and fled, taking Hiccup with her one foot with her.

"Whoa, Astrid, where are we going?" Hiccup asked.

"To the cove!" She replied.

When they landed at the cove, Astrid curled around Hiccup and told him: "I missed you last night; and thanks for subduing Cloudjumper, he was starting to drive me nuts!"

"My pleasure." Hiccup replied.

"So where did he take you last night?" Astrid asked. Hiccup started to elaborate on that, and soon enough he had Astrid pleading him to stop talking.

* * *

><p>"ALL DRAGONS EVACUATE THE NEST! THIS VOLCANO IS GOING TO BLOW!" The Alpha called out. Various dragons were fleeing their nest, most of them being Strike, Stoker, and Sharp class dragons. The earth below their Alpha's feet was cracking, and lava was spurting out of it.<p>

After looking around the nest once more, the Alpha saw no more dragons, spread his wings and flew off himself.

Within a matter of minutes, the volcano nest erupted so greatly, that it destroyed the home of these mighty dragons. After mourning the lost of a great habitat, the Alpha had no choice to lead the dragons to another home.


	4. Chapter 4: Treacherous News

**Chapter Four: Treacherous News**

"Come on Midnightfire, it's been three days and Cloudjumper has been driving us crazy!" Hiccup complained. Midnightfire honestly thought that Astrid had been through enough trouble as a Stormcutter, but she feared that Astrid would still be driven to treat her as if she were a human baby.

"I know, and it's helped Astrid to keep her claws off of me." She replied.

"Midnightfire, I'm begging you, please turn Astrid back into a human." Hiccup told her.

"Promise me that you won't let her make me be treated like a baby, and then I'll change her back."

"I promise that I won't let her handle you like that, now change her back!" Hiccup demanded. Midnightfire tapped the stone set in her gauntlet and zapped Astrid. She barely had the time to take a breath before Hiccup started showering her with kisses. When he finally stopped, Astrid gave him a playful punch to the shoulder telling him: "You're a hopeless romantic."

"Isn't that the case with all men? I'm just glad to have you back to your normal self!" He replied.

"I'll be back to my normal self when the baby is born!" Astrid told him.

"I'm really looking forward to meeting him or her. I'll bet they'll share your strength, and my love for dragons." Hiccup replied.

"And they'll lose a foot by the time they're twenty." Astrid added, holding up her stump.

"Oh gods, your foot! I'll go get it for you!" Hiccup exclaimed. He ran off to grab Astrid's false foot and was quick to put it over her stump. Sometimes it was easy for Hiccup to forget that Astrid lost her foot. The being that'd cut it off had changed so much that it was difficult to make that connection. There was also the fact that Astrid typically wore a boot over the false foot, and therefore hiding the fact that she was wearing it.

"Let's go for a walk." Astrid stated.

"Did you want to go anywhere in particular?" Hiccup asked.

"No, I just want to be moving." Astrid told him. He linked his left arm with her right, beckoned the dragons to follow them, and stepped outside.

They made their way to the cliff overlooking the docks and sat down looking at the sea and the horizon. It was a relaxing and romantic view, and Astrid laid her head on Hiccup's shoulder. They stayed like that for ten minutes, when a Timberjack caught Hiccup's eye.

"Is that Blade?" Hiccup asked. Blade was the dragon that bonded with Alvin the Treacherous when he and his tribe aided Berk in the last battle with Drago. While Alvin lost an eye, Blade lost a portion of his tail, but was still a fierce fighter.

"It does look like him." Astrid stated.

The Timberjack came in closer, and they spotted the familiar rider. Yes, the dragon was Blade, and just as he landed, the one-eyed rider dismounted.

"This is certainly a surprise, Alvin. What business brings you to Berk without notice?" Hiccup asked casually.

"Dagur the Deranged has escaped his prison." Alvin stated bluntly.

"What! How was that possible?" Hiccup asked astonished.

"He hid in his cell to make it look like he escaped. One of the guards opened it, and he jumped him. When I tried to catch him, the only thing I caught was his helmet, here. I was hoping that you'd help me to track him down. During his days in prison, he ranted to himself as to how he'd get his revenge on us." Alvin replied.

"Hold on, how did he escape the island?" Hiccup asked.

"He stole one of our cargo ships, and sailed to Hel knows where! I would've caught him of Blade, but there was a storm the night he escaped, and the winds were too dangerous for Blade to fly." Alvin told him.

"Alright, I'll assemble a team of riders and will help you search for him." He replied.

* * *

><p>Hiccup returned with Eret, Stoick, Claudette, and their dragons.<p>

"Do you think they'll be enough?" Alvin asked.

"With Skullcrusher's sense of smell, the speed of two mature Night Furies, and the power of a Skrill, Dagur doesn't stand a chance." Hiccup replied.

"Wait, I'm not going?" Astrid asked.

"I'd rather you didn't go flying until the baby is born." Hiccup told her. She looked at him with those big blue eyes. Hiccup groaned inside his head and asked her: "Would you accept playing Chief as a compromise?"

"Deal." Astrid replied. Hiccup took Dagur's helmet and handed it over to Eret, who held it in front of Skullcrusher to sniff. The Rumblehorn grunted and the riders took flight, with Eret at the lead.

Astrid turned away and Midnightfire perched on her shoulder and extended the foreleg wearing the gauntlet. She was offering the stone to Astrid; she removed the gauntlet and held it so her hand was over the stone.

"I just wanted to say this: I'm sorry for all the trouble I've caused you and for what I've done to the baby's physical features… and I'm sorry for all the trouble I've caused to your husband through Cloudjumper." Midnightfire told her.

"I appreciate the apology, but it's not going to take care of the fact that chances are that my child is going to be part dragon." Astrid replied.

"I'm sure that he or she would grow up to be the strongest Viking in Berk." Midnightfire told her.

"That's not the point, you try spending a few days walking around as a human with dragon eyes, or skin with patches of scales, because that's what this child is going to have to live with." She replied firmly, while pointing to her enlarged belly. Midnightfire hung her head low and took off. Astrid looked over to Sapphire and asked her: "Aren't you going to follow her?" She shook her head. Midnightfire was still a hatchling so she wouldn't go far.

* * *

><p><em>Wow, Dagur really got a head start.<em> Hiccup thought as he was on Toothless' back. Skullcrusher was leading them at a moderate speed for his breed of dragon, but that didn't change the fact that they were still flying with no sign of a rest stop approaching them; and looking at Skullcrusher, he was starting to get tired; as Rumblehorn dragons weren't built for flying like the other dragons were.

"Ugh, I can't stand going this slow! Come on, Skullcrusher, you've got three Strike class dragons at your tail, pick up the damn pace!" Shadowrath snapped. As a dragon who'd seen many battles, Shadowrath thrived on flying at the highest speeds, and Skullcrusher was flying slowly compared to the speeds he'd gone.

"Dad, can you go ahead and see if you can scout out any islands where we can take a rest stop?" Hiccup asked. He really didn't want Shadowrath to get overly moody during the trip, and he had to admit that the speed of the Rumblehorn was rather slow when compared to a Night Fury. Shadowrath didn't bother to wait for Stoick to accept the small mission before taking off at top speed. It caught Stoick by surprise enough to actually make him _voice_ it.

"Hey, how come _he_ gets to go off on a separate mission?" Claudette asked. Hiccup took a look at Whoshadow, and judging by the Skrill's glare, she was itching to go faster too.

"Shadowrath was about ready to go into battle with Skullcrusher if he didn't start flying faster." Hiccup replied. Whoshadow's stored lightning began to spark around her wings.

Shadowrath returned a moment later and Stoick announced that they've found an island where they could rest. So they abandoned the search for Dagur for now, but as they were heading to this new island to the northwest, and not long after they landed at the lush island with snow-capped mountains, Skullcrusher curled up and proceeded to take a nap.

In the meantime, the other dragons went out to bring in fish as their riders set up camp. They used old sail material to build makeshift tents and bedrolls. Hiccup built up a campfire before the dragons arrived with dinner, and using the power of the Dragonstone he ignited it.

"I don't think I'll ever get used to the idea of Vikings using witchcraft." Alvin stated.

"I wouldn't call it witchcraft as they don't use Dragonstones." Claudette stated. Now getting the Vikings curious about witches, Claudette carried on to tell them stories of witches and wizards both benevolent and malevolent.

* * *

><p>Dagur the Deranged had been subjected to six years of torture during his imprisonment for his crimes. During all of those years, he plotted his revenge against the men responsible for putting him in there. He devised several plans, some more dastardly than the others, but as he inhaled the salty sea air, he relished being free. However, once he found an island to call his own, he began fuming inside his twisted mind. Ever since his imprisonment, he'd been stripped of the little honor he had and his title, and in his mind, it was all the fault of that fishbone, Hiccup, and his Night Fury. He'd been so close to owning that Night Fury, and he lost him to a Hiccup!<p>

As he was going over his plans, he saw a large group of dragons, following one enormous dragon to his island.

Say, didn't Hiccup become the Night Fury's rider through trust?

With a spear he stole fro Outcast island he caught some fish, and as the amazing _Strike_ class dragons landed, and their Alpha stood before Dagur, well Dagur made sure to please the Alpha and the dragons it controlled.

The Alpha was not a Bewilderbeast or a Red Death. It was actually about half the size of a Red Death. It had a sleek head, like a Night Fury; but a frill of spines, like a Skrill or a Deadly Nadder. It's skin was grey, but its back and tail was covered in so many black spines that it looked like it had fur. It had four legs, a massive pair of grey wings, and a tail tipped with fins. The legs appeared to be dainty in comparison to the Alpha's size, but its wings were muscular, meaning that this dragon was meant to fly or it flew a lot. Hardly any of its teeth showed through its closed maw, and it had large and intelligent violet eyes. It was above all the strangest, but most magnificent beast Dagur had met; and after feeding it fish, the Alpha took a liking to him.

* * *

><p>The next morning, Astrid woke up with a gasp. When she opened her eyes, the morning greeted her with the face of a small black-haired child. As she leapt out of bed the child woke up and locked eyes with Astrid's, they were the brightest blue ever seen in a pair of eyes with little flecks of violet in them.<p>

"_Midnightfire,_ is that you?" Astrid asked.

"Yep, I thought that I'd try being human for a few days, and see what happens." She replied.

"How did you manage to transform yourself? Your stone still has another couple days to charge before it's capable of that kind of magic again."

"Actually, Aunt Astrid, I found out that I can draw power from other stones to charge this one up quicker. The community stone we got after the war, the one that all dragons and riders can use for a while, that's the stone I borrowed power from. Not enough to weaken it too much, but just enough to make my stone capable of this change." Midnightfire replied.

"Does your mother know of this?" Astrid asked.

"I asked her if I can try this form out and she said yes. She thought that this would be a good learning experience for me. She also says that she'll still be making sure that I don't cause much trouble." Midnightfire told her.

_A human Midnightfire for three days, this ought to be interesting_. Astrid thought.

* * *

><p><strong>Ok guys I hope I've got you ready for another epic climax, and a George R.R. Martin scene. Now just so you know, I've got a lot on my plate this Saturday and Sunday, so there is a chance that I won't be posting another chapter until Monday or Tuesday. Have a good weekend!<strong>


	5. Chapter 5: Dagur Island

**Chapter Five: Dagur Island**

**Ok, what does an UnknownBlackHand have to do to get a good reaction out of you guys? Would this chapter win me some wonderful reviews?**

It turned out that Midnightfire made for an inquisitive, well-behaved, and (above all) delightful little girl. She was particularly interested in the capabilities human hands had. She asked to borrow one of Hiccup's sketchbooks at one point and was fascinated with Hiccup's drawings, as well as how delicately she could turn the pages. Astrid, taking note of her fascination with Hiccup's work, went upstairs and brought down a few sheets of parchment and a piece of charcoal for Midnightfire.

"Do you think that you can try drawing your mother or Stormfly?" Astrid asked. A bright smile shone on Midnightfire's face as she accepted the parchment and charcoal. She brought them back over to the table and began sketching. Her deep focus stirred up curiosity in both Sapphire and Stormfly and they approached the table and took a look at her drawing.

With the dragons and Midnightfire distracted, Astrid got up and fixed herself another eel lunch while eating a piece of chocolate; and something dawned on her. She had been craving both eels and chocolate, why not have both of them at the same time? So she combined them. At the same time, she knew that Midnightfire would want to eat eventually, so she cooked up a salmon for her.

* * *

><p>Skullcrusher was given a head start to resume tracking Dagur the Deranged in the morning, but just as soon as they were out of eyeshot, the remaining riders saddled up and took flight. They caught up to Skullcrusher within ten minutes, but this time the Rumblehorn had picked up the speed. Dagur's scent was getting stronger and tensions were rising within the riders.<p>

As they were following Skullcrusher, Alvin and Blade leveled off with Hiccup and Toothless. Alvin asked Hiccup: "How do you want to go about capturing Dagur?"

"First, we circle the island he's on, if he's not on any shoreline, then we land where he landed his ship, and begin to track him down, but Alvin, you stay in the skies and circle over the island. If you find Dagur, have Blade sound a roar before you dive in after him." Hiccup replied.

"That sounds good enough to me." Alvin told him.

"Land ho!" Eret called out. Skullcrusher sped up even more, Dagur's scent was strong now, and the island in sight also had a ship on one of the beaches.

"That's his ship!" Alvin called out. Now that the ship was in view, the riders had no need to follow Skullcrusher's nose for the moment. The other dragons picked up speed and circled the island, while Eret landed Skullcrusher by the ship so the Rumblehorn could rest his wings; as said before, he wasn't much of a creature of the sky when compared to the others.

Unfortunately, Dagur wasn't just sitting on the shoreline. However, there was another scent in the air Skullcrusher caught a whiff of. It was a rather troublesome scent that put the Rumblehorn on edge.

"Skullcrusher, what's wrong?" Eret asked with concern. He could tell that the dragon smelled something of concern, but as for what it was, he could not tell.

"Is it another dragon?" Eret asked Skullcrusher. The dragon gave him a 'yes' grunt. Now getting somewhere, Eret kept talking: "Is it a big dragon?"

Yes.

"Is it a Bewilderbeast?"

No.

"Is it a Red Death?"

No.

"Is it dangerous?" Eret asked. Skullcrusher gave a panicked roar and a grunt meaning that the dragon he smelled was _exceedingly_ dangerous. A moment later the riders landed, notifying Eret that they hadn't spotted Dagur.

"Chief, I'm afraid that I have some troubling news." Eret told Hiccup.

"What is it?" He asked.

"Skullcrusher caught the scent of a large and dangerous dragon. It's neither a Bewilderbeast nor a Red Death, but it's got to be larger than a Typhoomerang or a Timberjack, maybe even larger than the Screaming Death. Whatever it is, it has put Skullcrusher on edge."

"Skullcrusher's not a cowardly dragon. If he is scared, then we should leave the island right now." Stoick stated.

"I agree with you, Dad, but what about Dagur? There's no telling what events would occur if he crosses paths with this dragon. On one hand he might try to kill it or get himself killed in the process of trying to kill it; on the other hand he could try and train it, and if it is as dangerous as Skullcrusher makes it seem as, then Dagur would use this dragon to attack Berk and destroy us all!" Hiccup replied.

"Well we can't have that." Alvin stated. With some reluctance Claudette and Stoick accepted Hiccup's reasoning. They would search the island for Dagur and the large dragon, but Eret and Skullcrusher would guard the ship in case Dagur came around to gather supplies from it. The Rumblehorn really pushed his limits during the home stretch in the pursuit of Dagur and was in the need of some food water and a bit of rest. Eret opened up one of his saddlebags, and fed him some chicken he had stored away.

Alvin and Blade took to the skies and began circling the island while the Strike class dragons ventured into the island's forests and began searching; and the three riders split up, promising to fire a signal into the air if they found either Dagur or the large dragon.

* * *

><p>Claudette and Whoshadow came across a freshwater stream. The bonded pair got low and drank from it. The water was pure, clean, and quite refreshing. When they had their fill, Claudette was about to hop back on the saddle, but then the bushes began rustling. Claudette grabbed her bow and readied an arrow as a strange man emerged with a bottle to fill with the water. He was tall; his hair was dark, long, tangled, and worn loose. He was wearing faded blue war paint, seemed to be a couple years older than Hiccup, and actually on the scrawnier side when compared to other Vikings. He also bore the wounds that came with the torture that he'd been subjected to. There was no doubt about it that this was the wanted fugitive.<p>

Dagur looked up from the stream and caught sight of Claudette and Whoshadow. He knew that only his foes were able to tame such dragons as the Skrill, and in failing to notice that Claudette was aiming a bow at him, he pulled out a dagger and charged them with a feral howl. Whoshadow roared, and pounced Dagur, with talons catching his arms. With Dagur pinned to the ground, and Claudette's bow trained on Dagur, Whoshadow looked to the skies and she shot a bolt of lightning where Blade and Alvin could see it.

"Girl, you rock!" Claudette told Whoshadow with her bow still trained on Dagur. The mighty Skrill then locked eyes with Dagur and gave a vicious snarl.

* * *

><p>Hiccup and Stoick never really spread that far apart from each other… and they both caught sight of the dragon that had put Skullcrusher on edge. Half the size of a Red Death and from the looks of the head, powerful wings, and the finned tail, this was a Strike class monster!<p>

To make matters worse, it turned out that this beast was the Alpha of a horde of Skrills and Night Furies, sure there was an occasional Monstrous Nightmare and Deadly Nadder, but there were also Timberjacks and Stormcutters!

"Retreat." Toothless stated; his eyes wide and pupils were slits.

"What?" Hiccup asked.

"Retreat!" Toothless exclaimed. There was no argument now, the Alpha caught sight of the intruders. Then, they heard the sound of a _deranged_ war cry soon followed by the sight of a lightning bolt shooting into the sky. Claudette and Whoshadow had found Dagur, and from the looks of it and the sound of a snarl, they've actually had the upper hand.

"Dad, we need to retreat!" Hiccup called out. Both men saddled up the Night Furies and took to the skies along with Eret, and the rest of the party. However, they now had the Alpha chasing after them!

When the hunting party was gathered together, they found Dagur struggling in Whoshadow's grasp. Hiccup flashed a satisfied smile from behind his flight mask. Nothing felt better than seeing the defeat of an old foe.

Unfortunately, the feeling over the relief of capturing the lunatic villain was short-lived; they had a big, unknown, Strike class dragon pursuing them with thunderous wing beats and a roar that could give the Screaming Death a run for its money.

Dagur continued struggling against Whoshadow's grip, and during a brief panic over the unknown dragon roaring after them, her grip loosened up a bit, and Dagur broke one arm free. He reached for his belt and pulled out his dagger again, and stabbed Whoshadow's ankle. The Skrill screamed and released Dagur with the dagger still lodged in her ankle. Whoshadow was about to turn around and catch him with her fangs this time, but the Alpha caught him like a loyal bonded dragon would.

"Oh no, they're bonded!" Hiccup exclaimed.

Enraged over the fact that she dropped the fugitive, Whoshadow sparked, making Claudette's hair stand on end, and she fired a blast in the Alpha's face to blind the beast temporarily, and force it to give up the chase.

"Alright, we need to give it up now! Those dragons will defend their Alpha to the death, and we're grossly outnumbered now!" Hiccup announced as the Alpha and the dragons were retreating to Dagur's island. There was frustration in the air, but they had no other choice, so they retreated back to Berk.

* * *

><p>"I can't believe you ate chocolate-coated eels." Midnightfire told Astrid the next morning.<p>

"It's what pregnant humans do, they get weird cravings. Besides, it was good, you should try it; as a human, you'd be able to eat eels without getting sick." Astrid replied.

"Knowing that chances are that your kid is going to have some draconic features, I'm surprised that you're not getting sick from eating those eels!" Midnightfire exclaimed.

"I should make you some eels to eat for giving my child draconic features." Astrid stated. In the background, Sapphire gave her a roar of protest.

"You win." Midnightfire stated. The two of them were lying on the grass by the cliffs in an area just between the forest and the village with Sapphire and Stormfly. It was a peaceful day with a gentle breeze going. If they looked to their right they could see Aric showing Brünhild how to build up walls of ice to fortify an island.

"How come I don't see you playing with other hatchlings that much, other than Brünhild?" Astrid asked. It was true that out of all of Berk's hatchlings, Midnightfire bonded closest to Brünhild.

"They have siblings and other members of their breed to play with. Sometimes we'll play with other breeds, but dragons simply prefer to play with our own breed. Brünhild and I are one-of-a-kind and so we play with each other though… but she can't share my passion for flying, and she always beats me in play fighting, so most of the time we just end up swimming and fishing; and if I'm not playing with her, then I guess I just get bored and eventually get into trouble."

"It is a shame that there aren't many Night Furies on Berk." Astrid stated.

"I'll drink to that." Midnightfire stated. It was a phrase she picked up from the other Vikings.

"I've noticed you playing with the Viking kids yesterday, how did that go?"

"They thought I was weird for turning myself into a human, but then we got into a chasing game. It was fun, but Mom gave me a tail whack for tackling one of them as hard as I did."

"Well we don't want our kids playing too rough, they'll break bones if they do." Astrid replied. A moment later, Stormfly and Sapphire's heads perked up, Sapphire's ears were raised, and she gave a soft 'rawr' to Midnightfire. She leapt to her feet and told Astrid: "Daddy and Uncle Hiccup are almost home!"

"Alright then, now help me up!" She replied. She rolled onto her side and Midnightfire tried to pull Astrid to her feet, but they eventually had to rely on Stormfly to help her up. Astrid hopped onto her saddle with Midnightfire sitting behind her, hands clinging on to Astrid's top, and Stormfly walked over to where the riders were coming in.

She was so happy to see Hiccup again after their two-day trek, and she kissed his lips before noticing that Dagur wasn't among them in chains or something like that.

"What happened to Dagur?" Astrid asked, and then taking another look at them, she noticed Whoshadow's wound and asked: "What happened to your dragon Claudette?"

"_Dagur_ is what happened to Whoshadow. Listen, I'll be happy to come by later and chat, but I want to get Whoshadow in to Gobber before she discharges lightning at us, she's pretty pissed right now, and contemplating her revenge." Claudette replied.

_I'll tear his guts out and feed them to the fishes and then I'll eat the fishes._ Whoshadow thought with a snarl and sparks discharging.

"Dagur stabbed Whoshadow to made his escape; but what's worse was that he was rescued by an unknown Strike class dragon." Hiccup told Astrid. She looked over to Alvin and told him: "I'm sorry to hear that, Al- SCHXXBLTBLTUUCK! Blech!"

She vomited all over the Outcast Chief.

"What in the name of Hel have you been eating?" Hiccup asked her, eyeing up the chunks, and holding his nose to keep the revolting smell from his nostrils.

"Chocolate-coated eels." Astrid replied hoarsely. Hiccup almost vomited himself after hearing that.

"Come on, let's get you inside." He stated.

"Alvin, I think I can help you find a new pair of pants and boots." Stoick stated, and he walked Alvin away from the scene.

Hiccup looked downward towards Astrid's belly about to talk to the baby inside, but then his eyes locked with a black-haired, blue-eyed, girl. Toothless even caught sight of her.

"Who's this?" Hiccup asked Astrid.

"She's Midnightfire." She replied. Toothless' eyes went wide and his jaw dropped.

"Daddy!" Midnightfire exclaimed, she ran and threw her arms around his neck. After brief sniff, to confirm that she was his daughter, he hugged her back.

Hiccup and Astrid started walking back to their home, but about halfway there, Astrid's knees buckled, and her hand went over her belly.

"AHH! HICCUP, MY WATER JUST BROKE!" She screamed. His eyes went wide, and he asked her: "How is that possible? You're only seven months along!"

"HICCUP, WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT, THIS BABY IS COMING, AND IT IS COMING NOW!" Astrid hollered. Without another signal, Hiccup's adrenaline was pumping; he took her in his arms, and ran her to the house, catching the attention of their mothers, who followed after them.

**I hate to leave it there but I want the next scene to be in its own chapter. Special thanks to those who're following the story and also special thanks to Fernfury and Joat382 for putting Resurfaced and a Dragonstone and The Dragonstone Tribe into their communities. **


	6. Chapter 6: The Birth

**Chapter Six: The Birth**

Hiccup paced in the lower floor furiously as he listened to Astrid's screams and shouts from their bedroom above. Up there with her were their mothers and Gothi, to help her out as much as they could. Three women were enough for this task, but still Hiccup wanted to be up there with her, but it was against Viking customs for the father to be present while the mother was giving birth. Still, as he heard Astrid upstairs, he just wanted to be with her and provide whatever comfort he could.

At the lower floor with him, were Astrid's father, Alvin, Stoick, Toothless, Stormfly, Midnightfire, and Sapphire. Despite the fact that Stoick and Mr. Hofferson knew that the baby was arriving early, they kept calm faces.

"Hiccup, pacing isn't going to make things any better, please try to relax." Stoick stated.

"My child is arriving two months early, and my wife is up there screaming at the top of her lungs!" Hiccup exclaimed.

"Heh, Astrid's always been a bit of a screamer. As a baby, if she wasn't sleeping, eating, or too focused with her toys, she was screaming." Mr. Hofferson stated, earning a glare from Hiccup.

"You were early too, Hiccup, and you turned out just fine." Stoick spoke.

"_Two months!"_ Hiccup snapped.

"You come from a tough family, Hiccup, and so has Astrid. I'm sure that the baby will be fine." Mr. Hofferson stated. Astrid screamed again.

"Does it _always_ take this long?" Hiccup asked.

"You're not even at the two-hour mark yet! Astrid took _ten_ hours to come into this world." Mr. Hofferson replied.

"_Ten hours!_ I may just break Viking customs!" Hiccup exclaimed.

"Been there done that, Buddy." Toothless stated.

"Hiccup, perhaps you need to distract yourself for a while. Take a look at the drawings pinned up on the walls." Alvin stated.

"On the walls?" Hiccup questioned. He finally paused his pacing and looked around and saw pictures pinned to the walls, and he didn't even notice them while he was pacing. He went over to take a closer look at them and found that they were mainly pictures of crude Deadly Nadders and Night Furies in several different poses and settings.

"Who drew these? I know I didn't, and Astrid has no interest in drawing." Hiccup said.

"They're my drawings, Uncle Hiccup." Midnightfire replied.

"Wow, not bad for a dragon who'd been human for only a few days." Hiccup stated.

A couple more hours passed and Hiccup had resumed his furious pacing. Until, finally, he heard Astrid shout: "I DON'T CARE IF IT'S AGAINST OUR CUSTOMS, I WANT HICCUP IN HERE!"

"YES!" Hiccup exclaimed, throwing his arms into the air, and he was upstairs at the speed to match a Strike class dragon. He rushed over to Astrid, not even taking note of the position she was in, nor did he really register the three other women in the room.

"Hey Astrid." Hiccup said nervously, as he took her hand in a firm grip.

"Come on, Astrid, push!" Mrs. Hofferson said.

"I told you to stop saying that already!" She snapped.

"Push Astrid!" Valka said.

"SHUT UP!" She hollered. She gave another push, with a scream this time, and then she finally did it, it was out! Hiccup looked over to their mothers and Gothi and found them standing straight up with quizzical expressions on their faces. Astrid didn't pay them any mind; in fact she just rolled onto her side and fell straight to sleep.

"That's a first." Gothi stated in a raspy voice.

"Is something wrong?" Hiccup asked. Valka bent down to pick up the baby, but what Hiccup saw wasn't exactly a baby…

…It was an egg.

The egg was the right size to hold a human child, and it had a softer shell when compared to a dragon, and it was translucent, so people could actually see the infant inside. Hiccup had mixed feelings about it, on one hand, he was glad to see that Astrid won't have to worry about a baby inside her, and she wouldn't be vomiting anymore; and he was also glad that the baby wouldn't be born early. On the other hand, how were they supposed to care for an egg?

"Umm, excuse me for a moment." Hiccup told the women. He got up and headed downstairs wearing an odd face and covering his mouth with his hand.

"What's going on?" Stoick asked him.

"Is the baby alright?" Mr. Hofferson asked. Hiccup couldn't hold it in anymore… He started laughing! Not only was he laughing he was really cracking up!

"Speak up, boy, what was going on up there?" Alvin asked.

"It was an egg!" Hiccup exclaimed through his laughter. The men looked at him like he'd gone insane, but then the women came down, with Valka holding the egg.

"Well I'll be damned, my daughter… laid and egg." Mr. Hofferson stated. His eyes rolled back in his head, and he hit the floor with a loud 'THUD'. Hiccup broke out into a fit of laughter again, making himself look like a lunatic, and he couldn't stop himself until he actually got the hiccups.

"I don't see the humor in this. What's so funny about an egg?" Sapphire asked.

Hiccup finally got a grip on himself and told her: "Humans-_hic!-_don't normally-_hic!-_ lay-_hic!-_eggs."

"Then how're humans usually born?" Sapphire asked.

*_HICCUP,_ the question startled Hiccup.

"I'll-_hic!-_tell you-_hic!-_later." He told her.

"First thing you need to do is figure out how to take care of this egg." Valka told him. She handed the egg off to him and strode out of the house with the other women. Alvin and Stoick also left, leaving Mr. Hofferson behind. Sapphire and Stormfly slowly approached Hiccup and the egg to check it out.

"We can help you take care of it." Stormfly told him. Hiccup smiled at her, still hiccupping, Sapphire took the egg gently in a gummy maw, and then curled around it.

"You can go back up to Astrid, I'll take care of the egg." Sapphire told him. So he did, and he spent the remainder of the day laying in bed next to her, only getting up to fix them some dinner.

* * *

><p><strong>An <strong>**_egg_****! How many of you saw ****_that_**** coming? Please review.**


	7. Chapter 7: Preparations

**Chapter Seven: Preparations**

**Special Thanks to Mikowmer for putting up Resurfaced and a Dragonstone and The Dragonstone Tribe as recommended Fanfictions on /FanficRecs/HowTotrainyourdragon **

"Toothless, there's something I've been meaning to ask you." Hiccup stated. It was the early morning after Astrid laid the egg.

"Well, what is it?" He asked.

"That big dragon that we saw on Dagur's island; do you know what kind of dragon it is?"

"Not only do I know that kind of dragon that Dagur tamed, I knew that particular dragon personally. The dragon is known as a Black Typhoon among the dragons, it may be hard to find but it is actually one of the more abundant of the alpha dragons." Toothless started.

"Well what are its strengths and weaknesses?" Hiccup asked.

"If you thought that Hookfang and Cloudjumper delivered powerful wing blasts, then don't be flying anywhere near a Black Typhoon. They can deliver wing blasts that are powerful enough to blow a whole nest of dragons away; they may even be strong enough to knock Aric off of his feet. Not to mention, the blasts sound like a furious thunderstorm. The black spines on their back and tail can be fired like the spines on a Whispering Death, Screaming Death, or a Deadly Nadder. They're a Strike class dragon, so they can fly at speeds to match Night Furies and Skrills; however, do to their size, they don't have the level of maneuverability that Night Furies do, so that's one of their weaknesses. They shoot blasts of red plasma, and can take in lightning like a Skrill; and they appear to have a great amount of shots before they have to recharge; but they can't shoot without closing their eyes first because they have such a high level of firepower; so, as Whoshadow displayed, they can be temporarily blinded by lightning or plasma. They do have a soft belly, so that is a weak spot for them."

"Now what was your personal relationship with this dragon?" Hiccup asked.

"She is known as the Thunder Queen. I hatched in her nest, and lived for twelve years among her nest. She is a good Queen, about as great as Aric when he commanded the sanctuary. I know that my parents love her. Then, not long after I'd turned thirteen, I decided to go out exploring and I fell under the power of the Red Death; and until the day we found Dagur, it was the last I've seen of the Thunder Queen. She is a good dragon, but soon she'll be under the command of a bad man."

"Hold on, you said your parents _love_ her, are you implying that they're still alive?" Hiccup asked. Even Sapphire and Midnightfire perked up at that.

"Yes, they're still alive, in fact I spotted them when we found the Thunder Queen." Toothless replied.

"Why is this the first time I'm hearing this?" Hiccup asked.

"I didn't think that it was any of your business." Toothless stated.

"That may be true, but I would've liked to have known this. Do you miss them?" Hiccup replied.

"I do on occasion, but now I have Sapphire, Midnightfire, you, Astrid, and Shadowrath to fill in the gap for them."

"Real sweet of you, Daddy, but I'd like to hear stories about my grandparents on your side." Midnightfire spoke, looking up from her latest drawing.

"I'll tell you some after you turn yourself back into a dragon again." Toothless replied.

"Aww, but Daddy, I'm having so much fun making these drawing and playing with the Viking kids!"

"Please, Toothless, don't force her to turn back into a dragon, she actually behaves herself as a human." Hiccup said.

"Yeah, and it's easier for me to find somebody to play with in this body!"

"Who's to say that the Viking children wouldn't want to play with you as the dragon that you are? You're an amazing young Night Fury." Toothless replied.

"They won't be able to understand her without a Dragonstone." Hiccup stated.

"Dragons don't always have to get their point across using speech." Toothless told him.

Midnightfire decided that maybe her father had a point; maybe the Viking children would like to play with a Night Fury hatchling. She grabbed her gauntlet and changed herself back into a dragon. She smiled as she looked at her wings, realizing that she'd forgotten that she missed them a bit while she was human.

A moment later, Astrid came down and asked Hiccup: "Where's the baby?"

"Well, Astrid… you didn't exactly give birth to a baby… Sapphire, would you mind uncurling yourself?" Hiccup replied. He led Astrid over to the navy Night Fury as she revealed the soft-shelled egg. Astrid's eyes went wide, and her hands covered her mouth.

"It's not everyday a human mother lays an egg. On the upside you can have some time to go back to being the fierce Viking warrior you are before we have to take care of the baby." Hiccup told her.

"IT'S AN _EGG!" _She exclaimed.

"Yes Astrid, you laid an egg, and there's nothing we can do about it. The dragons are taking it upon themselves that it is taken care of properly, so I can still tend to my duties as Chief, and you can go flying freely now. Go on, pick a dragon and go for a ride." Hiccup told her. During her pregnancy, Hiccup had Astrid take a break from riding dragons, especially when it came to dragon racing. It simply a safety precaution for the baby, but that didn't mean that Astrid liked it. Seeing the positive in this for the first time. Astrid called Stormfly over and fitted the saddle on her and took off.

While Astrid was out flying, Hiccup ate a quarter loaf of Helga the Mace Menace's bread and began to roam the village to attend to his duties as the Chief. Now that they would be expecting an attack from Dagur sometime in the near future, he had to have the village prepare for war. He also knew that Alvin would be training his Outcasts for battle, and he was considering whether or not he should send a letter to Alvin saying that Berk will be willing to teach them how to train dragons for the upcoming battle.

As he was contemplating this decision, he ran into Helga, Tuffnut, Fishlegs, Claudette, and their dragons. He glanced at Whoshadow's feet and noticed the fine job Gobber did in bandaging up the wound.

"It looks like Whoshadow's wound is feeling better." Hiccup told Claudette.

"Yeah, yesterday the poor thing was limping on it. It's feeling better, but she's still contemplating on how to exact her revenge on the bastard that stabbed her." She replied.

"I will fry him with my lightning until he explodes." Whoshadow snarled.

"Whoa, Whoshadow, that may be overkill." Hiccup stated. The Skrill glared at him. He then explained to Claudette what Whoshadow said.

"I'm getting worried about her. She's never stayed in a fowl mood around me for this long, Chief Hiccup. Is there something I can do to calm her down?" Claudette asked.

"I'd start by finding a way for Whoshadow to channel her rage. If that doesn't work, then try seasoning some mutton with dragon nip. Hopefully the herb would take her mind away from the battle-skies and into her happy place. If she gets in a mood again, I'm going to have to refer you to my mother; I may be known as the Dragon Chief, but I'm not an expert on Skrills."

"I'll try that, thank you." Claudette replied while stroking her brooding Skrill.

"So, Fishlegs, Claudette, you said that the ships to your wedding are setting sail in a week?" Helga questioned.

"Yes." Fishlegs replied, taking his fiancé's hand. Meatlug nuzzled his free hand in want of attention too. Fishlegs chuckled and gave her a hug.

"Oh gods, it's only a week away?" Hiccup questioned, earning glares from everyone.

"You're the best man _and_ the political dignitary of Berk for this wedding, how could you _forget?_" Helga snapped, and she was about ready to draw out her mace. The reason behind her outburst was because along with her growing friendship with Astrid, Claudette had also gotten to be good friends with Helga. In fact they were best friends. The two couples enjoyed having diners together, sometimes Hiccup and Astrid were included, and they would share stories amongst each other. Helga was fascinated with the prim and proper mannerisms and the luxuries that Claudette lived with during her life as a princess. Claudette was also fascinated in Helga's more barbaric upbringing. The two of them were often seen with Astrid, training their dragons and practicing their fighting techniques.

"Hey Chief, what's Astrid doing flying up there, isn't she banned from flying until the baby is born? Wait, is the baby born?" Tuffnut asked. With four pairs of eyes looking at him, he had no choice but to explain to them that Astrid actually laid an egg. Fishlegs and the girls were polite enough to hold in their guffaws, but Tuffnut broke out into uproarious laughter, which earned him a mace head to the gut from Helga.

"Be sensitive!" Helga snapped at him.

"Actually, I don't mind the laughter, I had the same reaction and gave myself the hiccups." Hiccup admitted. So the friends took advantage of it and broke out into laughter for a little bit. However, they really couldn't feel too bad for Astrid. If they looked up, they would've seen Scauldy flying alongside Stormfly, and the girls were having a similar discussion

Hiccup was about to turn away from the group, but then Claudette told him: "Chief Hiccup, my parents and I have been communicating with carrier pigeons, and they've actually asked if we could bring a few dragons to see. The only dragon they've seen was the one that guarded my castle before Drago found me. Don't worry, they promise that no harm would come to them."

"I'd be alright with that, but which dragons were you planning on bringing?" Hiccup asked.

"Well, we'd be taking Whoshadow and Meatlug of course, and we decided that you should pick the third one." Fishlegs replied.

"I'd pick something like a Terrible Terror. I think I'll leave you to pick the third dragon if you don't like that idea." Hiccup told them.

"Actually, that's not a bad idea. A Terrible Terror would be easier to introduce to my parents than a brooding Whoshadow." Claudette stated. So that was settled, now Hiccup had to break the news to Toothless.

* * *

><p>Hiccup found Toothless breaking up a fight between a Timberjack, Whispering Death, and a Monstrous Nightmare. It really fascinated Hiccup to find that Toothless was capable of wrestling dragons of that size.<p>

Now that Toothless had chased the troublesome dragons away from each other, Hiccup approached him and his expression softened.

"How're you doing, Buddy?" Toothless asked.

"Apparently better than what you've been up to. Listen, Bud, the ship to Fishlegs's wedding departs in a week, and I can't take you with me. We're also taking my _human _family, as well as Fishlegs's family, Astrid and her parents, the twins and their significant others, Gobber, and three dragons. Since everyone fit to be Chief is leaving, I ask you to watch over the island while we're gone. Mostly what I want you to do is begin preparing them for war against Dagur. I'll leave your Dragonstone here when I leave." Hiccup told him.

"I can handle that. I'll have to delegate more tasks to Cloudjumper and Aric, and I might actually have to turn human while you're away." He replied.

"Thanks, Bud, you can do whatever you have to do; however, if there is any criminal activity among the villagers, just send the culprits to the jail and I'll figure a proper sentence for them when I get back."

* * *

><p>Fishlegs and Claudette had the arena to themselves; it was perfect since they were planning on having Whoshadow tear around the place. Behind her, Claudette was towing a dummy made of mutton. It was covered with a shroud, but Whoshadow could smell the mouthwatering meat. Claudette rolled the dummy out to the middle of the arena, and unveiled it, causing Whoshadow to snarl as she saw that the dummy was supposed to resemble the bastard that stabbed her beautiful foot. It had a few streaks of blue war paint on its head.<p>

"Alright, Whoshadow, _kill!_" Fishlegs ordered as Claudette began running around the arena to make Whoshadow have to chase he foe dummy. They ran around playfully for a while, but then the Skrill pounced on the mutton dummy and began its bloody dismemberment!

Whoshadow tore open the torso, which had been filled with sheep's blood, and the red fluid splattered all over the place, and it had also been stuffed with tasty organs; except for the kidneys and the intestines, Whoshadow didn't care for those. Then the Skrill ripped off the head with her good foot, held it in the air, and roared triumphantly before crushing it in her jaws!

"Vengeance is _mine!_" Whoshadow snarled to herself.

"We get it, you want to kill him." Meatlug told her. The two dragons got along fine, but they didn't really have a lot in common. Where Meatlug had the cute personality of a dog, Whoshadow's behavior was more like a cat. She was independent, proud, fierce, and graceful… Meatlug was loyal, thrived in company, and was only aggressive when needed.

For a while, Whoshadow devoured the dummy as messily as she could, effectively bathing herself in 'Dagur's' blood too, until she reached a leg seasoned with dragon nip. The sweet, intoxicating smell of the plant sent her to a beautiful world where she could chase sheep through a beautiful, flowering meadow, and every time she flew high into the sky, Thor would strengthen her further with his powerful lightning.

Now with her need for vengeance vented out, hunger sated, and dragon nip sending her to her happy place, Whoshadow collapsed with a satisfied smile on her face.

**Please review.**


	8. Chapter 8: A Fishy First Impression

**Chapter Eight: A Fishy First Impression**

**Warning: Cover image due to change within the next two updates! In a review, somebody kindly asked me to draw a picture of the Black Typhoon, and I work to please. **

The day to set sail to the kingdom was upon Berk. For the past few days Toothless had been delegating the duties as Alpha dragon between Aric, Cloudjumper, and Shadowrath too; at the same time he was following Hiccup around the island seeing what tasks he had to do while he was busy being the Alpha.

Eventually, Toothless decided that the best way to take care of the village for Hiccup was to turn himself into a human until he returned. He used the power from the stone he gave Hiccup and was relieved to find that the transformation packed less punch than his first one this time around; but to his surprise, he wasn't dressed in the shroud that he wore the first time he was human, instead it was a black tunic trousers and boots. However, he still had wild black hair, bright green eyes, and so on.

"Take care, Bud." Hiccup told Toothless, as he was about to board the ship.

"_You_ take care. I'm not going to be there to save your skin if you get into any trouble… and keep an eye on that obnoxious cousin of yours." He replied. They shook hands and Hiccup boarded the ship along with the rest of the crew and passengers. It was a large ship built to travel at high speeds and hold steady in rough waters.

As the ship set sail, Toothless turned away and began tending to the village.

To Toothless, it turned out that Hiccup was the cat of the village and the villagers were mice. Well the cat was away, and now the mice were going to play! It was his first day for acting Chief, and on his first day, domestic disputes were arising, he had to break up a sturgeon fight between Bucket and Mulch.

_Oh gods, please tell me that this is only the worst day._ Toothless thought to himself.

* * *

><p>After spending a few days at sea, the ship finally pulled into port at Claudette's kingdom where the Royal Guard awaited them to step off of the ship.<p>

As they had drawn near to the kingdom, Claudette had dressed herself in a golden and silver gown she'd sewn herself; during the trip she worked to wash out as much of the ink she used to dye her hair, but somehow managed to only wash it out enough to turn it from black to brown… and it wasn't a very attractive brown on her so she dyed it back to black and made do with it. She pinned her hair up, and set her tiara on her head (sent to her through one of the traders her kingdom sent to Berk).

"How do I look?" She asked as she turned to Fishlegs, he and their dragons had wide eyes, and the dragons had dropped their jaws. She looked spectacular, and she knew it, she just liked to see Fishlegs freeze in awe over her beauty. However, Fishlegs had never seen her so dolled-up before. She looked like a raven-haired fairytale princess, holding a strong and adventurous spirit in her green eyes, and her dress was delicately embroidered with the finest dragons she'd seen on Berk.

As she was taking in the awed looks received by Fishlegs and their dragons, a knock sounded from the other side of their door.

"Come in!" Claudette called. It was Hiccup who stepped in, with a red Terrible Terror perched on his shoulder, and he was quite impressed with Claudette's wardrobe.

"Wow, you look amazing." Hiccup told her.

"Thank you, Chief, I wish Fishlegs would say the same thing, but I think I broke him. He's just frozen in awe."

"Try leaving the room, he may snap out of it." Hiccup suggested. Claudette left the room to go up on deck, and the idea worked. Fishlegs and the dragons snapped out of their trances and turned their attention to Hiccup.

Both men were freshly shaven and were wearing garments meant for them to fit in more with the people living in the kingdom, as were the majority of the passengers on the ship. Hiccup and Fishlegs checked out their reflections in a mirror once more, and proceeded to the docks.

Claudette was the first to step off the ship and she promptly embraced the guards and gave one a peck on the cheek. At the same time the princess's appearance threw off the guards; they remembered her as a dainty thing with golden hair. This girl was lean with raven hair, but the sound of her voice, the sight of er tiara, and the color of her eyes told them that she was indeed Princess Claudette.

Following the princess onto the docks were Hiccup and Fishlegs with the dragons. The guards were expecting dragons, and the one perched on the young Chief's shoulder, and the stout brown dragon with a doglike persona seemed friendly enough; but the dark violet beast with a frill of black spines seemed a bit to menacing for their liking. Hiccup caught sight of them reaching for the security of their weapons.

"Ah, ah, ah; no weapons are to be drawn around the dragons. If you don't want them to attack you, then you need to show them that you don't mean them any harm, especially towards your Princess's Skrill." Hiccup told them as he gestured to the dragon that clearly frightened them.

"That's _your_ dragon?" The guards asked Claudette.

"I needed to train one in order to fit in with my future home. So yes, the Skrill is my faithful companion. Her name is: Whoshadow. I can tell you more about Skrills when we meet up with my parents." She replied.

"Of course, Princess, please have your company follow us." The Head Guard told her.

"Hey Chief, Fishlegs, wanna bet on how my mother would react when she sees me and hears my story?" Claudette asked as they were making their way to the palace.

"I'm sure that they'll be blinded by the fact that you've returned to them to really care." Fishlegs replied.

"That may be true, Fishlegs, but I have a feeling that once she starts talking about Drago, they'd be confused and possibly appalled." Hiccup stated.

"I'll bet that the moment that I mention I was turned into a dragon by Drago, my mother would swoon. Now what would our terms be?" Claudette replied.

"How about we just come up with them on the spot when someone wins." Hiccup suggested as he stroked the Terrible Terror still perched on his shoulder.

"That's fine by me, Chief." Claudette replied.

The doors to the palace opened, and the group stepped into a large room, larger than the Great Hall on Berk, and it was crowded with the kingdom's residents at the moment. All Vikings entered right away, along with the Terrible Terror still perched on Hiccup's shoulder, however Whoshadow and Meatlug were left outside for the moment. As the Vikings were taking in the spectacular architecture, the Guard looked over to the King and Queen and rang out: "Presenting, Princess Claudette and her betrothed, Sir Fishlegs Ingerman of Berk." Fishlegs blushed at the formal title that he'd been given on the spot.

Claudette linked her arm with Fishlegs and stepped forward to Claudette's parents. As she curtsied, Fishlegs bowed to the King and Queen as they rose from their thrones and approached them. When Fishlegs straightened up, he looked at his future father-in-law in the eyes. His gaze was akin to that of Stoick's, only gentler. The King's gaze was wise, stern, and held a sense of authority. Now looking over to his future mother-in-law, he found where his bride got her charming looks. The Queen was dainty, and seemed to be the pinnacle of how a Queen of Western Europe should be. However, she looked weak and defenseless, as if she'd never laid a finger on a weapon at all. If another Viking tribe ever sought to pillage this kingdom, the Queen would've been a prized target for rape.

"Y-You dyed your hair." She stammered as she held one of Claudette's black strands.

"It was to fit in better with my future home, dear Mother." She replied.

The King looked up from Fishlegs and over to the other Vikings. His eyes locked with those belonging to a tall man with an impressive red beard beginning to go grey. He knew the gaze this large man held in his eyes, as it was similar to his own, except those eyes have seen more battles than he had. He could just tell.

_He must be their King, who else would've earned the title of the 'Dragon Chief'._ Claudette's father thought. As he and his daughter exchanged messages, Claudette had neglected to include descriptions of anyone other than Fishlegs.

"Now announcing: King Hiccup Haddock III!" The Guard announced. To the King's great surprise, it was the scrawniest Viking among the group who'd stepped forward. He was young and fairly new to his position; but like the large man he'd presumed to be the King, Claudette's father could tell that the King of Berk had seen battles too by looking in his eyes. As Hiccup approached and bowed to the King, the King noticed that the young man before him was already missing a fair chunk of his left leg.

_He's this young, and he's already lost a limb?_ The King thought. He and his Queen finally took notice of the small dragon on his shoulder.

"So, you're the Dragon Chief?" The Queen spoke.

"Celeste, let's not lose our good graces because we're surprised by the age of their King." The King told her.

"Oh, so it was my age and not my size that surprised you." Hiccup stated.

"I'll admit that your size is also a bit of a surprise; but you were right, I am more surprised about your age for the status you have. I'll admit that I assumed that your companion with the red beard was the King." The King replied.

Stoick chuckled a bit.

"Well, if we'd come here for this same occasion a little over a year ago, you would've been right. The man you're referring to is my father, Stoick the Vast. Now, if you'll let me, I'll introduce you to the rest of my company myself." Hiccup replied.

The King smiled and shook hands with everyone as Hiccup introduced them, and eventually, the King disclosed his name to be Hubert. Hiccup actually had to hold in his impulse to laugh at such a strange name to him.

"Announcing: Prince Salomon." Another Guard. Claudette's eyes lit up over the sight of her brother entering the room. He came down a flight of stairs, but the moment he had both feet on the floor, Claudette put her princess-y mannerisms aside and ran towards her brother, and flung her arms around him into a tight embrace.

"Claudette!" The royals exclaimed. They expected her to wait until the Prince was standing beside his parents; and instead of embracing, they expected her to wait and let Salomon take her hand and kiss it.

"Have you forgotten your good graces?" Celeste asked with a snap in her voice.

"You stuck me in a tower for six years, and even after I left it, I still had yet to see him!" Claudette snapped at her mother. She tightened her embrace around her brother and took in the sweet smell of his cologne. The Prince decided that it was best to hug her back and stroke her raven hair.

"She's accustomed well to our society now." Hiccup stated. The royal siblings parted and the Prince asked Hiccup: "So you're the infamous Dragon Chief. Did you bring dragons to show us?"

"As a matter of fact, we have. Ladies and gentleman, from the island of Berk, we've brought three specimens of dragons we share the land with. Now, I figured we'd start you all off with something small, so we brought this little guy." Hiccup began. He pulled the Terrible Terror off of his shoulder and held it before him for all to see. After earning inquisitive reactions from his audience, he continued on with: "This is a Terrible Terror. It is a miniature cousin of the Guardians who inhabit your area. They're among the most abundant breed of dragons in our lands, and on Berk, they're mainly used as our carrier pigeons. However, in the past, they proved to be very useful in distracting our foes when they've attacked our island. One Terrible Terror isn't all that bad to deal with in the wild, but they hunt in packs, like the wolves, and then they can pose as a problem. Luckily, they're among the easiest of our dragons to train." He held the dragon towards the Queen, who actually found the small dragon to be adorable. She was hesitant, so the Terrible Terror decided to perch on her shoulder and make himself comfortable there.

The doors to the outside opened up, and then Hiccup announced: "Next we've brought something bigger, but rather gentle. We've brought Fishlegs's dragon, and she is a Gronkle." Meatlug padded her way over to her rider's side and Fishlegs took it from there:

"Gronkles may not be the fiercest of the dragons, but that's really not the type of Viking I am. I chose a Gronkle for her loyalty, personality, and I find them fascinating. Out of all the dragons, Gronkles have the greatest jaw strength. Meatlug, here, eats solid rocks and she shoots lava rather than fire. They make great scouting dragons because of their endurance and they're the best at hovering."

"Now, our final treat for you all, is one of the rarest, and most dangerous dragons we've tamed. You may want to duck now." Hiccup announced. The crowd covered their heads just before Hiccup called in Whoshadow.

The Skrill flew into the room and circled the perimeter once before landing beside Claudette.

"Everyone, this is the mighty Skrill. It is one of the fastest, most powerful, and most feared dragons on Berk. They collect lightning during storms, store it, and can later redirect it. Now, this particular dragon, Whoshadow is her name, is responsible for vanquishing our foe from our last great battle… and it was your princess who tamed this beast on her own, and together, they fly!" Hiccup announced, earning awed expressions for the Princess. To emphasize what Hiccup announced, Whoshadow sparked a bit, and then lowered her head so Claudette could give her a pleasant scratch.

Suddenly, Prince Salomon felt like his sister was a Prince and _he_ was the Princess. There, his sister stood before him, as she was petting a powerful and fearsome dragon. He also took note of the saddle, signifying that Claudette rode this dragon as if it were a stallion.

"My daughter has returned for her wedding, so in three days we'll hold the celebration with food, drink, and dancing! Everyone here is invited!" King Hubert announced, the people applauded and took that as their signal to leave.

"Now, King Hiccup, our servants will show you and your company to the rooms we've reserved for you. We've made sure that spouses would be accommodated to stay together comfortably." Queen Celeste stated.

"Thank you, now, allow me to introduce you to my wife, Astrid." Hiccup replied. Astrid stepped forward and took Hiccup's hand.

"She's a lovely bride, but why is she so lean?" Queen Celeste asked.

"On Berk both men and women are trained in combat, and Claudette is no exception. She's made herself into a brilliant archer and sword fighter." Hiccup replied. The Queen's eyes widened slightly, she knew that the Vikings had more barbaric ways than they did, but having women on the battlefield was the most savage thing she'd ever heard of. Wasn't it barbaric enough that they were playing with dragons?

"Oh, and for future references, I prefer the title of Chief rather than King." Hiccup told the King.

"Vey well, we'll let you get situated and freshened up, and Claudette, Fishlegs, please see me in the Library in an hour. _Chief_ Hiccup and, uh, Chief-ette Astrid, you're welcome to come along too." King Hubert told them.

"No titles are necessary for me." Astrid replied.

"We'll see you then." Hiccup stated. He shook hands with the royals. Queen Celeste was about to give the Terrible Terror back to Hiccup, but after seeing the reluctance in the motion, Hiccup told her: "You're welcome to keep that dragon as a messenger between our lands." Queen Celeste smiled and continued to pet the small dragon.

* * *

><p>After getting situated for their stay and freshened up, the invited found their way to the Library. Upon stepping inside, Fishlegs was in awe over how many books were in there.<p>

"When we further establish a trade route, I'll be sure to include books in the agreement." Hiccup told Fishlegs. They found the royals sitting on comfy armchairs and joined them. King Hubert poured each of them a glass of wine and asked: "So, Sir Fishlegs, I'm curious, what became of the dragon you rescued my daughter from?"

"I'm not to sure, Sir, that wasn't how I met Claudette." He replied. The response caused King Hubert to choke on his drink in surprise.

"If that wasn't the case, then how did you meet?" Prince Salomon asked.

"It was a different man who bested the beast. I watched him bravely defeat the dragon from my tower, but then I noticed that he wasn't coming to take me. Offended and confused, I hiked up my skirt and marched over to him. It turned out that he didn't want the kingdom or me at all, saying that I had no use for him. He just came for the dragon!"

"The fiend!" Prince Salomon exclaimed.

"As he turned away, I reached out to stop him. I was greatly offended, but my hand planted on this fascinating jewel. The jewel, as it turned out, was magical and once I touched it, it discharged its power into my body. I collapsed and convulsed as golden scales overtook my body… Yes, I was turned into a dragon!" Claudette declared. At those words, Queen Celeste's eyes went wide, and she swooned.

"Alright you won the bet." Hiccup stated when Claudette locked eyes with him. The King and Prince were gracious enough to not question the bet in question.

"After I had finished my transformation, the knight finally unveiled his face… his horrible… sinister… face. Then he told me that it was best if I came with him now that he had a use for me. After that things were a little fuzzy. However, it was soon enough, that we, an army of dragons, arrived to Berk with the intent to destroy it."

The King and Prince were absolutely entranced in the story now, with their hearts beating faster in the suspense.

"Hiccup, would you care to continue the story?" Claudette asked.

"Of course… There came the point where Fishlegs fought this mountain-sized monster the 'knight' brought with him. He took that thing on with nothing more than a hammer, his loyal Gronkle, and a pack of Terrible Terrors. He didn't kill the colossal monster, but he did an amazing job wounding the thing enough to make it withdraw from the battle; all on his own with dragons at his command. After I saw that, I praised him, but it wasn't long after that when my dragon and I were knocked out of the sky. My dragon landed in a safer spot and needed to take off to protect his hatchling. I, on the other hand, rolled to a stop where the 'knight' could charge me. He forced me to watch as Claudette, under the power of another dragon's command, used the arrow on her tail to slice off Astrid's foot." Hiccup began. Astrid took off her right boot and showed the conscious royals the false foot. They were shocked, but Astrid told them: "I've forgiven her for her actions, as they weren't her fault."

"Now, what he didn't know was that I had a similar jewel that he had hidden within my armor. Just as he was about to kill me, the jewel I had turned me into a dragon myself. The 'knight' retreated to the saddle he placed on your daughter, and we fought in the skies."

"Is that where you got that scar?" Salomon asked Claudette. He was referring to the scratch mark Hiccup gave her. The princess simply nodded.

"Eventually, we landed, and I fought against the 'knight' some more, but then he broke out into this rant, saying that he was going to command all the dragons in the world. As he ranted, I noticed the Jewel in his chest plate beginning to glow, so I fired at it. The jewel discharged its magic after I shot it, and it turned him into a black Terrible Terror. The dragon that commanded the other dragons he brought started to summon him, and as he was flying, Whoshadow swooped over the scene and _ate_ him!"

"Whoa!" Salomon exclaimed.

"As Hiccup was being led to our medical area to see Astrid, the dragons the 'knight' brought took flight to go back to their own homes; but then I noticed the dragon I saw cut off Astrid's foot. She looked upset, so I borrowed one of the mystical jewels and we began talking… And that was how we met and how we began our engagement." Fishlegs finished.

"I must say, Sir Fishlegs, after hearing of your bravery from your Chief and for the kind heart you've shown my daughter, you make a good first impression." King Hubert stated.

"Thank you." Fishlegs replied.

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><p><strong>Whew, long chapter. I hope you all enjoyed it.<strong>


	9. Chapter 9: A Fishy Wedding

**Chapter Nine: The Fishy Wedding.**

**Remember, I plan on changing the cover image by the time I post the next chapter. It will be of a Black Typhoon, grey dragon with violet eyes, and it will actually have the name of the dragon written in gothic calligraphy. I also plan on giving it a blue and red background. I'm saying this so you know what to look for when I upload the next chapter. **

Toothless had gotten the hang of playing the role of Chief of Berk. Once he'd gotten the villagers into a training schedule, things were running pretty smooth. He had villagers practicing drills for when Dagur attacks, and he even taught a class about the Black Typhoon, so they'd be prepared for the arrival of the massive beast.

For the first few days Toothless basically ran the village in an all-work and no-play fashion, but after the fourth day of Hiccup's departure, he gave the villagers a break from the drills and set up a dragon race to spectate.

As for the dragons, well, due to all the drills that they've been practicing, there wasn't a lot of room for them to cause mischief. He was glad for that. It made things easier on him and the dragons filling his role as the Alpha. So with things running smoothly, Toothless strode into the Haddock house to check up on the egg Astrid laid. As of right now, Stormfly was watching it while Sapphire was drill training.

"How're you doing?" Toothless asked her.

"Everything's fine, but I could use an excuse to stretch my wings." She replied.

"Well, the villagers are pretty calm now. Go on and fly for a while now. I'll watch over the egg."

"Thank you, Toothless." Stormfly stated. She got up and left, leaving the egg in Toothless' care for a while.

* * *

><p>Fishlegs woke up to the feeling of Meatlug licking his feet.<p>

"Aww, good morning, Girl!" He greeted. He got up and prepared himself for the day. This was going to be a big day for Fishlegs, it was the day of his wedding to Claudette; and he went as far as tidying his hair up so it looked nice and sleek.

"Well, Meatlug, how do I look?" Fishlegs asked. The Gronkle winked at him in a cheeky fashion. Fishlegs smiled and told her: "Aww, Girl, you're a flatterer."

When Fishlegs got into the suit the royals had provided for this occasion, people would see that he looked quite dashing; the suit was tastefully elaborate, fitted him perfectly, and emphasized his finest features. Yes the suit was made special for him.

Now in another room, Claudette was getting prepared for the ceremony herself. She was dressed in a full gown with exquisite details and pieces of fine jewelry, including a fabulous tiara.

"Our princess looks so beautiful!" One of the maidens helping her out declared.

"Oh, yes, and who would've thought that she could go from golden to raven hair wonderfully." Another replied.

"Thank you, ladies." Claudette told them with slight sarcasm. She would agree that she looked beautiful, but after her time spent with the Vikings, she lost her taste for wearing such extravagant gowns, but this was the wedding that she'd dreamed of since she was locked away in the tower, and she knew that after today she would consummate her marriage and would be free to return to Berk. So she knew that she'd be fine attending a one-day celebration in a full gown that was a little to princess-y for her tastes now.

* * *

><p>In Hiccup and Astrid's room, they were also freshened up, but as Hiccup was getting his suit on (also provided by the royals), Astrid was fussing over the fact that she had to put on the puffy dress she was given.<p>

"What's wrong with it?" Hiccup asked her.

"This is not a wise choice of attire for a soldier." She replied.

"Neither is this suit, and you don't hear me complaining about it." Hiccup stated as he gestured to the puffs in the sleeves. Astrid laughed at them, they did make Hiccup look a little ridiculous, but to give credit where credit was due, he wasn't complaining.

Hiccup helped her to tie up the sleeves and lace up the back. It took a while, but he managed to get the dress so it looked right and still left Astrid feeling somewhat comfortable.

"I know it's not your preferred style, but it does look nice on you." Hiccup told Astrid. She had to admit that she pulled off the princess gown quite nicely, and it also helped that the dress's most prominent color was the same blue in her eyes.

A moment later the twins showed up and Hiccup and Astrid almost laughed in their faces. Tuffnut had been given a puffier outfit than Hiccup, and a funny hat came along with it. The outfit may've been funnier than Hiccup's but Tuffnut's garb wasn't as elaborate as Hiccup's. Hiccup's had pieces of printed fabric and elaborate embroidery where Tuffnut's didn't.

Now, Ruffnut, named the maid of honor, was given a fancier dress than Astrid, complete with a propped up collar, and most of her hair had been pinned up on the top of the head.

"Chief, please tell me that this fashion trend will _never_ make it to Berk." Tuffnut said.

"If it does while I'm still the Chief, then please kick me in the head and stuff rotten cod in my mouth."

"You should see Snotlout's outfit. It was hysterical." Ruffnut told them.

"I'm sure we won't be disappointed." Astrid replied. Sure enough Snotlout stepped into the room in the puffiest pants and fattest sleeves with a sulk on his face; it also didn't do Snotlout any justice with the outfit being bright red, and so the whole room burst out into violent guffaws.

"Ok, I have to admit that I do look a bit weird." Snotlout stated, and he knew he was putting it mildly.

"Hey, do any of you guys know how the other Vikings are dressed?" Hiccup asked the twins and his cousin.

"Yeah, they look just as weird as we do." Tuffnut replied.

"Oh great, I was planning on _not_ laughing in front of my dad's face." Hiccup stated.

"Come on, we better get down to the ceremony now." Astrid told them. She hiked up her skirt and strode out of the room with everyone else following behind her.

So there they stood at the alter; Fishlegs was nearly in tears when he saw Claudette in all her radiant beauty walking down the aisle with Whoshadow holding up the end of Claudette's train in her maw.

When Claudette was standing before Fishlegs, Hiccup glanced at Whoshadow's feet and found that she was wearing a form of socks with soles on the bottoms. The Skrill seemed perfectly content wearing them, and the booties she was wearing were embroidered with silver lightning bolts. Hiccup assumed that she was wearing them so the people of the kingdom wouldn't have to worry about the dragon scratching up the polished wood floors of the church.

The priest began the ceremony, and it was a bit long for the Viking's liking. All they wanted was to wrap it up quick and go straight to the feast; and the fact that they were wearing funny clothes only aided them in their impatience. Hiccup was just glad that his people were behaving themselves.

"You may now kiss the bride!" The Priest concluded. Fishlegs, being a bit shy for the moment, had to have Claudette pull him in for the kiss. The Vikings resisted cheering for the newlyweds, but they applauded more assertively than the residents of the kingdom.

"Great job, Fishlegs." Hiccup stated, giving him a well-earned pat on the shoulder. There was a point where he almost passed out; but enough of that it was time to feast!

* * *

><p>They dined in a grand banquet room where platters were piled high with assorted foods; some were mundane, but others were quite exotic. They ranged from mutton, chicken, and potatoes; to fruits they've never seen before and imported meats.<p>

The servants also brought in a whole slow-roasted sheep with a sweet glaze and zesty herbs made special for Whoshadow. The Skrills eyes went wide when the servants confidently set the roast before her. The sweet smell of the glaze and herbs might as well have given her a dragon-nip high. Whoshadow took a bite out of it and was also thrilled to find that the cooks had stuffed the carcass with the hearts and lungs of not just the sheep but also chickens, plus fish livers. Claudette couldn't explain it, but Whoshadow's favorite part of the fish was the liver.

"Claudette, I couldn't help but notice that Whoshadow was wearing a bandage when I first saw her. Is there a story behind that?" Salomon asked. The question caught King Hubert's attention, so he listened to his daughter.

"As a matter of fact there is a story to that." She replied. She glanced over to Whoshadow to make sure that her food was distracting her enough to not pay attention to the story. The last thing the kingdom needed to see was her Skrill turning into a sadistic rage monster as she recalled the events she received her wound. After finding Whoshadow perfectly content on savoring her meal, Claudette looked back to her brother and father and told them: "Another Chief, an ally to Berk, had a prisoner who escaped. So I accompanied him, Hiccup, Stoick, and another man by the name of Eret. We tracked the fugitive to this one island, and Whoshadow and I were the ones who found him… Or rather, he found us. I trained my bow and arrow on him, but it was like he didn't even see it when he caught sight of us. The moment he spotted us, he drew his pilfered dagger, and charged us! Whoshadow pinned him to the ground and soon after that we took to the skies. Unfortunately, the fugitive freed one of his arms, and stabbed Whoshadow right in the ankle, and he got away."

The King and Prince were in stunned silence.

"What if he comes to Berk to attack?" King Hubert asked.

"We'll be ready for him." Claudette replied.

Whoshadow had finished her meal and looked to the table to see if she could score some more from the guests, but her eyes caught sight of a long fruit that was slightly curved with a bright-yellow skin, and I was sitting on a platter near Claudette. She sniffed it, and found that it smelled sweet. Claudette smiled and took one of the fruits, peeled the skin off of it, and fed it to Whoshadow. She was actually baffled to find out that Whoshadow enjoyed bananas! So she fed the Skrill a few more.

* * *

><p>"Hiccup, our parents are coming over." Astrid spoke in a hushed voice. Judging by the look in her eyes, something was bound to get awkward. Hiccup was halfway through a large plate of food and had been drinking some cask-strength rum<strong>(which is over 50% alcohol by volume)<strong>and was feeling a bit tipsy after a few swallows. Hiccup was only drinking it because he saw how much the other Vikings were enjoying it and thought that it would be something that they could trade for. It turned out that Hiccup actually liked the sweet taste of it, so not only was he sampling goods, but he was also enjoying them. At the same time he was also making sure he was drinking responsibly.

"Alright, Hiccup, turn at your own risk, they're almost here." Astrid told him. She glanced in the direction they were approaching from, Hiccup turned his head, took one glance at what their fathers were wearing, and he just lost it! **(Picture them wearing something you'd see in a portrait of Henry VIII)**

"What's he laughing at?" Mr. Hofferson asked. He actually liked the clothes he was wearing, and so did his wife.

"I think it's obvious." Stoick told him, gesturing to his outfit.

"He's also been drinking a bit." Astrid told them. Hiccup was now leaning over to the side, clenching his tummy, and was now laughing so hard his face turned red and he was at the point where his laughter was no longer emitting any sound.

"What has he been drinking?" Stoick asked as he reached for Hiccup's cup.

"It's rum; and at this point it would be wise to keep it away from him." Astrid replied. She looked back over to Hiccup and told him: "Alright you need to calm down now!"

"Whoa!" Hiccup exclaimed as he leaned over too far and his chair toppled over. His parents helped him back on his foot and prosthetic, and his drink had been taken away from their table. Astrid set his chair upright; and in a desperate notion to sober him up, she struck him across the cheek. Despite the shocked looks she was receiving from the residents of the kingdom, the slap snapped Hiccup out of his buzz.

"Thanks for that." Hiccup told her as he sat down to finish his meal.

* * *

><p>After the feast, the guests were moved into the ballroom for singing and dancing, but first, the newlyweds had to take the first dance on their own. Luckily for Fishlegs, Claudette picked out a simple waltz that was easy for Fishlegs to follow, and to make things even easier for him, she took the lead.<p>

As they were dancing, Meatlug, Whoshadow, and the Terrible Terror (now named Claude) were swaying to the music. Curious, Queen Celeste tapped Hiccup on the shoulder and asked him: "Do the dragons dance?"

"They did for my wedding reception, and they were cautious about not knocking people off their feet." He replied as Claude hopped from the Queen's shoulder and onto his for a moment to get a chin scratch.

"If that's the case, then we can allow the dragons on the dance floor." Queen Celeste replied. So… Let there be dragons on the dance floor! Claudette and Whoshadow managed to do a tango together. However, Fishlegs found more difficulties in dancing with a quadruped Gronkle. So they mainly swayed to the music while facing each other, adding a few steps and turns here and there.

"I wonder how our dragons would've thought of this." Hiccup wondered aloud as they were doing their best to tango.

"They would've enjoyed the food, but that may've been it. Oh, and I'm sure that they would've had priceless reactions to seeing our dads dressed the way they are." Astrid replied. Another waltz started up, but a slower one this time, and she leaned her head on Hiccup's chest and said softly: "I wonder how the egg is doing."

"We've got the best protecting it; and I'm sure that the baby would wait for our return before hatching." Hiccup replied, trying to refrain from chuckling at how absurd that last statement sounded. He kissed her forehead and then parted to get some drinks, this time resorting to small mugs of beer rather than something strong.

"To Fishlegs and Claudette." Hiccup toasted. Astrid tapped her mug with his and drank, she only had water for the feast, so she took a hearty swallow while Hiccup only took just enough to taste it.

* * *

><p>Now with the reception over everyone returned to their respective homes. However, for Fishlegs and Claudette, the night was only just beginning. Now Claudette knew that it was a Viking custom to have witnesses for the event about to occur, but they compromised and had only one witness wearing a blindfold. Unfortunately, that fell to be the duty of the best man, and current Berk Chief. How this arrangement was made was anyone's guess, but they knew that Claudette's parents had something to do with it.<p>

As it turned out, Hiccup didn't even have to be in the room to know what was going on. The princess was so loud, he could've just sat outside the door and a few paces down the hall. Either way, he certainly wasn't in the mood for any of _that_ for tonight!

After getting out of the funny garb and into something he could actually sleep in, Hiccup actually took the time to draw out the outfits people were wearing for the wedding while they were still fresh in his memory. He was sure that he would get a laugh out of somebody.

* * *

><p>"Oh, Fishlegs, that was the greatest feeling any man has ever given me! It was greater than flying!" Claudette panted.<p> 


	10. Chapter 10: Back to Surprise

**Chapter Ten: Back to Surprise**

Something seemed to be driving the Vikings to want to go home as soon as possible as they got on the ship. Hiccup didn't even have the time to assume his position on the deck before the ship was pushed off and the Vikings started rowing out to sea. Hiccup didn't even give the order for them to man the oars, they had a good wind blowing their sails and Whoshadow was flying around, giving them a good blast of wind on occasion.

"Dad, why are they even rowing? I didn't give the order." Hiccup asked Stoick.

"I think that they found their stay in Claudette's homeland a bit too awkward for them." Stoick replied. He wasn't wrong.

* * *

><p>Hiccup had been gone for over a week now, and the egg still hadn't hatched yet. For the moment, Sapphire was watching over it as Toothless was running more drills with the humans, and Shadowrath and Cloudjumper were running drills with the dragons.<p>

As Toothless looked to the sky, he felt a pair of phantom wings and a phantom tail preparing to take flight. He'd been in this human body for too long for his liking, and he longed for a flight. Sapphire and Shadowrath offered him their backs when he needed them, but it just wasn't the same as flying by his own wings.

_I could turn back into a dragon now. The villagers know the routine by heart now… No, I promised Hiccup that I'd act as their Chief. He can't be gone for that much longer._Toothless thought. The villagers' schedules were now planned with military precision, and there has been no need for Toothless to throw any of them in a holding cell for Hiccup to sentence them. In fact, some of the villagers have told him directly that he was doing a fine job as a substitute for Hiccup. If only they knew how much he actually missed his real body.

Toothless examined the icy fortifications Aric and Brünhild had been working on. There were now two walls bordering Berk. They had bridges for the Vikings to use to travel from the land to the inner wall and then the outer wall. They held a complex network of tunnels for the dragons to fly through, so complex that the dragons and villagers had been ordered to familiarize themselves with them so they could get inside, lose a pursuing dragon, and escape with the pursuing dragon stuck inside. Hiccup and the others would have to do the same once they return and have a day of rest.

"Toothless, mother wants to know if you'll have dinner with us." Gustav said.

"Please tell your mother that I appreciate the offer, but I'd rather have the night to myself, please." He replied. Gustav's mother was a nice enough woman, but out of the families he had a meal with, Gustav's mother wasn't his favorite cook on the island. Besides, he received a word from a Terrible Terror that Hiccup was making his return trip and should be back at around sunset.

Toothless observed the Vikings training for combat and the drills taking place in the air for several hours, barking out criticisms where they were needed. He kept it up for several hours before he heard a voice on the wind. It was harder for him to hear with his human ears, but Midnightfire picked it up right away, and she was walking right next to her.

"Daddy, did you hear that? It sounded like another Night Fury, but it wasn't Momma or Shadowrath." Midnightfire told him.

"Hiccup can mimic our calls." Toothless stated. He sent Midnightfire out to see if it was really Hiccup when they heard the call again. He stayed where he was, and within hardly any time, Midnightfire brought back the word and Toothless headed for the docks to welcome the incoming ship. He waited at the top of them so he could keep the villagers from crowding the docks below. He could barely contain his excitement.

The ship docked, the people got off, and Toothless spotted Hiccup. Toothless faced the village and shouted: "THE CHIEF HAS RETURNED!" The other villagers stopped what they were doing and gathered by Toothless to await their Chief and those who've left with him.

The moment Hiccup locked eyes with Toothless, he found himself in a tight embrace with the dragon-turned-human. Hiccup laughed as much as he could in the constrictor-like hug, and then asked Toothless: "Did you miss me, Bud?"

"Of course, but your arrival means that I can get out of this body and into the skies!" He replied.

"You missed your wings more than me?" Hiccup questioned.

"Riding on my mate's back isn't the same as flying on my own."

"Well, from the looks of it, you did a good job of taking care of the village." Hiccup stated, by now the villagers were beginning to disperse.

"Yes, they told me that I filled your boot nicely. I worked them into a training routine, and they've behaved themselves. So how was the wedding?"

"Well, Toothless, we had a good time, but we figured that the extravagance of it may've been lost on you. Although Whoshadow seemed to have a good time." Astrid replied. Then she asked: "How's the egg?"

Before Toothless could answer, they all heard a screaming call from Sapphire. Toothless' eyes went wide as he exclaimed to them: "IT'S THE EGG!" He, Hiccup, Astrid, their parents, and the newlyweds all ran for the Haddock house where they found the egg.

The embryo had developed significantly while Hiccup and Astrid were away. Speaking of the parents, they weren't too sure if they should get closer to the egg or stay back. Even Valka, who lived among dragons for twenty years wasn't sure of what was the best distance, so instead she went to pick up the first blanket she found for swaddling the baby. It turned out that the blanket she grabbed was the gift from Claudette.

A small crack showed through the soft shell, Hiccup and Astrid unconsciously took a half step towards the egg, and another crack appeared in the shell. Within a few tense moments, the shell suddenly burst with a thin plume of smoke escaping it; and the eggshell didn't exactly shatter, but it actually looked more like a closed flower bloomed within a split second. That didn't matter though, what did matter was that Hiccup and Astrid's baby had hatched.

As Valka bent down and swaddled her new grandchild, she declared: "It's a girl!"

"A girl." Hiccup said faintly. Valka smiled and nodded as she handed the child over to Astrid's outstretched arms. The child was adorable, but she had yet to open her eyes. So far the only draconic features the girl had were a series of colorless Stormcutter scales that circled her neck just like a necklace. Hiccup hoped that it would get some color as she got older; he figured that it would look nicer if the scales did.

"Wow." Hiccup whispered in the same awe as he had when he first met Aric.

"What should we name her?" Astrid asked. She took a seat on their guest cot.

"Could go with 'Hicca' after her daddy." Mr. Hofferson stated.

"You wanted to name me 'Camicazi', you have no voice in this!" Astrid snapped.

"Besides, she's no hiccup like I was." Hiccup added.

"You could name her 'Stormscales' since she has the scales of a Stormcutter." Valka suggested. Hiccup really couldn't blame her for trying; the name was better than his own.

"Anora." Toothless said, his face said that his thoughts were somewhere else, and his voice was distant.

"What was that, Toothless?" Astrid asked.

"Anora… It was my mother's name, and I always found it beautiful." He replied.

"It is a nice name. What do you think of 'Anora' as a name, Astrid?" Hiccup said. As he repeated the name, the baby cracked a smile.

"I think that the baby wants it. Anora Storm Haddock it is then." She replied. A moment later, Anora opened her eyes.

"Hiccup, look at her eyes!" Astrid exclaimed in a hushed voice.

"Wow, they're dragon eyes." He spoke. They were dragon eyes, but it was their color that Hiccup was taking note of. Anora's eyes were the perfect blend of Astrid's blue and Hiccup's vivid green, making Anora's eyes a beautiful mixture of their eye colors.

Midnightfire had gotten curious over the bundle in Astrid's arms and perched on Hiccup's shoulders to get a better look at the human hatchling, and she instantly found an unconditional love for Anora. So she pressed her snout onto Anora's forehead, making their bond

* * *

><p>Berserker Island… Ever since Dagur had been stripped of his title, everything had taken a turn for the better. They were <em>glad<em> to've lost their tyrant of a Chief. Their economy had improved significantly, their farms were looking better, and no one was in fear of going into another needless battle just to satisfy the taste for blood of a deranged Chief.

If they could ask for anything now, it would be to renew their alliances. Ever since Dagur assumed the role of Chief, alliances were cut, as they didn't want to participate in Dagur's battles. They also wanted to get back on Berk's good side. They knew that while they were among the most peaceful tribes, they were still the most dangerous due to their dragons. Still, the Dragon Chief had no interest in renewing their peace treaties; however, they did establish an agreement to trade amongst each other just to keep them on good terms.

Yet, to their horror, they spotted a large grey dragon in the air. It was a Strike class monster; that much they knew, but what scared them the most was that when the massive beast landed, they found their former deranged Chief was riding it, and he had Skrills and Night Furies in his wake.

Dagur returned in demand for recruits and to return to his old position as the Berserker Chief, or he would destroy the village with one command for the Black Typhoon.

What choice did they have?

* * *

><p><strong>Dun, dun, duuuunnnn! <strong>

**So what did you guys think of this chapter? Also, what do you guys think of the Black Typhoon's picture? **


	11. Chapter 11: You Better You Bet

**Chapter Eleven: You Better You Bet**

**Special Thanks to Heartofadragon2014 for coming up with the name of Hiccup and Astrid's daughter. I hope that those of you who voted for a boy aren't too upset.**

The Berserker tribe was miserable. Ever since Dagur had left, they've been living peacefully with a nice economy, and now they were doing nothing but training for battle under the ever-watching Dagur.

They knew that Dagur was preparing them to attack Berk, and they feared that most of the tribe would not make it back alive. Over the years after Dagur had been imprisoned, they've heard of the dragons Berk had acquired and how strong they've become as a tribe. They would've retaliated against Dagur, but he had tamed the Strike class monster and they knew that if they displeased Dagur, then he would send the massive dragon to deal with them.

* * *

><p>It was the morning after little Anora hatched; Hiccup and Astrid woke up looking at the baby lying between them. They just didn't want to let her sleep in her own crib for her first night, and they were pleased to know that she didn't disturb them during the night.<p>

"She should be getting hungry." Hiccup told Astrid as Anora began to open her eyes.

"I don't know how to go about that. Laying an egg didn't make me produce milk like a mother of a normal baby would." Astrid replied.

"We'll see how she takes to yak's milk then. If that isn't good enough for her, we'll have to improvise. You stay with her, I'll prepare her breakfast." Hiccup said. He got ready for the morning and filled two baby bottles for Anora, the first was just regular milk, while the other had a bit of fish blood mixed in.

It was a good thing that Hiccup prepared the second bottle, because their baby's dietary needs were slightly more draconic than completely human children. Anora suckled on the milk-blood mixture as if it was going to be the only meal she'll have.

"Wow, what an appetite!" Hiccup exclaimed after Anora emptied the bottle in one go.

"Yeah, kind of like Stoick's." Astrid replied. Hiccup let out a chuckle. Stoick always had a more than hearty appetite.

"We better get ready for the day. The villagers are going to want to meet her." Hiccup stated. He and Astrid prepared themselves and Anora for the day and ate some bread from Helga the Mace Menace for breakfast. After that, Hiccup had donned his armor with the Dragonstone inside.

"Toothless, why are you still human?" Hiccup asked looking over to the dragon-turned-human lying on the guest cot.

"I was about to turn back last night, but something inside me told me that I should wait." He replied.

Hiccup decided to drop it there and head outside with Astrid, the baby, and Midnightfire perched on his shoulder…

That would be provided if the village would let them out.

Just outside their front door there were villagers and dragons ready to celebrate the arrival of the Chief's firstborn child. The new parents were taken aback, as they weren't expecting to be mobbed. Still, Hiccup gathered his senses and announced: "People of Berk, meet our daughter: Anora Storm Haddock!"

Astrid covered the baby's ears as the Vikings cheered and the dragons cheered in their own way.

"Wow, dragon eyes, they're beautiful." Gobber told them.

"_Dragon eyes?_ What happened, did one of you bang a dragon?" Snotlout called out, earning glares from everyone. Midnightfire went into a rage and pounced him. Nobody said or did anything to help Snotlout out.

"Next person who says anything that inappropriate regarding Anora's draconic features will be cleaning the stables as a Terrible Terror for two weeks… And by the way, Midnightfire bonded with Anora the day she was born, making Anora Berk's youngest dragon trainer." Hiccup announced.

"That seems fitting as her father is known as the Dragon Chief." Fishlegs stated.

With Whoshadow standing beside him, the Skrill stepped forward to take a closer look at the baby and she smiled, both of them smiled! It was a lovely sight, but after that moment, Astrid went around to show off Anora while Hiccup was going around the village to see if he was needed anywhere. Well Gobber asked him to take over for making saddles. These saddles were better suited for battle.

"Hey, Chief, you remember that bet you lost?" Claudette asked Hiccup as he finished up the seventh saddle he was working on.

"Yes, I take it that you came up with what I have to do for you now." He replied.

"Well, I was talking to Toothless, and he told me that he needed you to familiarize yourself with the ice tunnels. He already knows them like the back of his claws, so we agreed that since the Vikings have already worked themselves into a routine, we should have you turn into a dragon; and after you familiarize yourself with the tunnels, you, Toothless, Whoshadow, and I are going to race." Claudette told him.

"Come on, my daughter only _just_ hatched. I want to be able to hold her, and who knows what Astrid would say about this!" Hiccup complained.

"Astrid told us that you should honor the bet. She'll take care of the baby, and Toothless will continue filling in for your position. You get today and tomorrow to stay human, but after that it's goodbye Chief Hiccup, hello Mr. Night Fury." Claudette replied. Whoshadow nodded in confirmation. Hiccup turned away shaking his finger at them, but said nothing.

* * *

><p>For the next two days, Hiccup pretty much kept Anora to himself. He fed her, burped her, changed her diaper, gave her a bath, and even took naps with her. There was actually a point where he walked her around the village before spending a dinner at his parents' house.<p>

On this day, at Toothless' request, Hiccup used Midnightfire's Dragonstone to turn into a Night Fury. He'd admit that it was nice to have a pair of his own wings on his back, but now he had to go into the icy tunnels to get familiar with them.

It was a complex network the Bewilderbeasts had created, and Hiccup was amazed as well as frustrated. The tunnels had a lot of forks, twists, sudden drops, and dead ends. He understood that the purposes of the tunnels were for the dragons to escape pursuing foes and hiding, but at some points it seemed to be overkill. The network was so complex that it took Hiccup most of the day to figure out several in and out routes, and even more time to commit them to memory.

By the time he was done with the tunnels, Hiccup hit the feeding stations to pig out on the fish. He must've ate twenty-five of them before he noticed Toothless and Astrid behind him.

"How're you doing, Buddy?" Toothless asked.

"To say the least, I can navigate the tunnels now." Hiccup replied, stepping away from the fish. Since Astrid was wearing the armor holding Hiccup's Dragonstone, Toothless didn't need to translate for her.

"Good, that's good to hear." Toothless stated.

"Should I tell Claudette that you'd be ready to race tomorrow?" Astrid asked.

"Yeah, my wings will be up to their full strength by tomorrow." Hiccup replied.

* * *

><p>The next day, Claudette and Whoshadow were ready to race against Hiccup and Toothless. Team Skrill regularly wore blue and white racing stripes, while team Alphas were wearing red stripes. The course to the race was a simple one, it was mainly a test of speed, and Claudette didn't want to see Hiccup in 'warrior mode' as she was quite fond of her nose and he'd already given her face a scar.<p>

"I know we've done this once before with Snotlout and Hookfang, but this still feels really awkward!" Toothless told Hiccup.

"Hey, I'm trying to pass a Skrill here!" He snapped. Toothless won't deny that Hiccup made a good Night Fury, and he'll admit that he made a good human, but to put them in opposite bodies and to have them race, they'll do a good job, but it just felt weird to them.

At the beginning of the race, Claudette and Whoshadow caught the first sheep, but Toothless intercepted it from her and later scored the first point. However, Claudette eventually stole the black sheep off of Toothless and won the game. Up until then it was a fairly even match.

"Hey Hiccup, you did nicely against a Skrill." Whoshadow stated.

* * *

><p><strong>I promise that the next chapter will be more interesting than this.<strong>

**Please review, I don't care if it's on another chapter, just review, I enjoy your feedback.**


	12. Chapter 12: The Monster is Loose

**Chapter Twelve: The Monster is Loose**

**You may want to look back at Chapter Seven to refresh your memory on the Black Typhoon. For her abilities and who lives with her. **

**I've been looking forward to writing this chapter for some time now…**

Two weeks have passed since Hiccup lost the race to Claudette. By now both he and Toothless were back into their respective bodies. With each passing day, the villagers of Berk feared the arrival of Dagur and his dragon army. He may be insane, but they knew that he wouldn't attack until he felt for sure that he was going to win.

Knowing that Dagur could attack any day now, and Hiccup knew that Dagur will be on his way soon, they requested that Alvin and the Outcasts come on over as reinforcements. They came to Berk heavily armed, and with more food.

Hiccup introduced the new routine that was now Berk's daily lifestyle. They were days of rigorous training and work to be done, with very little time for anything fun.

Alvin was shown the tunnel network, and spent several hours navigating his way through their complex network astride Blade. The one-eyed Chief took about an hour longer than Hiccup to familiarize himself with the tunnels.

* * *

><p>Now on Berserker Island, they were readying the ships with weapons and the fierce dragons, the only dragon that would be flying for now was the Black Typhoon, as she wouldn't fit on or in either of the ships.<p>

"My dear Berserkers, today is the day we set sail for Berk, and put an end to them! Now to the ships, we leave now!" Dagur announced. So the Berserkers set sail into yet another needless war. However, underneath Dagur's nose, there was a plot for a mutiny against him. As of right now it was something to talk about, as the Berserkers couldn't agree on what method to use to overthrow their insane Chief, and the good former Chief simply loved too many of the ideas to settle for just one. So, for now, all they really hoped for was that Dagur will meet a frightful end during this battle they wanted nothing to do with and was none of their business.

Also, there was the fact that earlier that day, right before sunrise, the former Chief had found a Terrible Terror. It was the same dragon that Chief Hiccup would send him to deliver messages from Berk. So the former Chief took the small dragon and sent a letter to Berk.

* * *

><p>"Ow, OW! Chief, you got mail!" Snotlout called out.<p>

"That's the dragon I send to Berserker Island." Hiccup told himself. The Terrible Terror unclamped its jaws from Snotlout's arm and gently perched on Hiccup's shoulder. Hiccup took one quick look at the message and the handwriting, and then ordered Helga: "Round up the people and their dragons into the Great Hall, I need them to hear this."

"You got it, Chief!" Helga replied. She saluted him with her mace and set out to do her job, while Hiccup and his gang of riders headed for the Great Hall.

Hiccup watched as the Vikings and dragons filed into the hall, the letter was still in his grasp. He waited until he was sure that he had their undivided attention before reading the message for them:

_My friends of Berk,_

_I assume that you from your alliance with the Outcasts that you know that Dagur had escaped from his prison, but please let me tell you something that you may not know. A while back he returned to Berserker Island with a massive grey dragon with black spines. I do not know what dragon it is, but I am certain that it is of the Strike class. _

_Upon arrival, he forced us to accept him as our Chief or he would use this Strike class monster to destroy our village. We had no choice but to surrender, and ever since he regained this title, we've been forced to train for a battle we want nothing to do with. _

_It doesn't matter whether or not we want to fight you and your fearsome dragons and your warriors, what does matter is that Dagur will be attacking you soon. By the time you receive this message, I am sure that the armada would have set sail with your island and with a horde of other dragons. I apologize for not sending you this note when it would've been more convenient to you, but I found the Terrible Terror at the last minute._

_Goosefoot, Former Berserker Chief._

"Vikings, we're going to arms! Snotlout, Fishlegs, Gothi, you two take the children and your dragons to shelter and guard them. Snotlout, I don't want to hear any complaints from you. I need you and Hookfang to be the main muscle to protect them. Now dragon riders, I want you to station yourselves at the exterior of the inner wall around the island. Ground fighters, try to keep the killing to a minimum, the men you'll be fighting want no part of this war, and I want as many of them to go home as possible for that. Now, Claudette and Whoshadow, I want you to team up with Stoick and Shadowrath and bring down Dagur if you can. Now, TO ARMS!" Hiccup announced. He put on his flight mask and mounted Toothless.

* * *

><p>Gothi rode with Fishlegs as the children ran for the shelter. Snotlout was grumbling to himself during the whole trip, but Hookfang didn't seem to mind the task at hand. The Monstrous Nightmare was optimistic, maybe some dragons will find the shelter and he could give them a good mauling… like how Gothi's pack of Terrible Terrors mauled Snotlout when he tried stealing some of her medicinal herbs.<p>

As the children filed into the cave that provided their shelter, it was now an excruciating waiting game. Their young minds will worry if their parents will make it through this battle. They've been told the terrifying stories of Dagur the Deranged from Hiccup and Snotlout at their own request. Granted, the stories were slightly different based off of who told them, but the children still found the story of how Dagur got his hands on his own Skrill to be quite scary in either version.

To pass the time, they told stories of their own adventures with their parent's dragons while cuddling with whatever prized plush toy they dragged along with them. It wasn't that they needed the toys to comfort them; it was the fact that they were sentimental and dragons were prone to burning buildings to the ground.

* * *

><p>The salty sea air smelled great to Dagur as he and the Thunder Queen had Berk within their sights. What he smelled wasn't really the air, but rather the blood he expected to shed during his attack. He stroked the Black Typhoon's head, feeling the power of the lightning she had stored inside her. Like the Skrill, she could take in the lightning, but she could also shoot spines, fire plasma, and deliver thunderous blasts with her wings.<p>

Now that Berk was near, Dagur howled to signal the armada to release the Thunder Queen's dragons. Night Furies, Skrills, Timberjacks, and other dragons took to the skies at screaming speeds, and flew straight for Berk. Dagur would've flown with them, but he wanted to make sure that the Berserkers actually made it to the island rather than turning the ships around. He won this fleet and he sure as hell was going to put it to good use.

* * *

><p>With the dragons approaching Berk, Toothless signaled the solo dragons to take to the skies. After they got a head start, Hiccup gave the order for the dragon riders to take flight… and let the battle begin.<p>

Right now, the dragons weren't paying any mind to the armada, they needed to drive the dragons away from Berk, so with their attention on the dragons, the armada drew closer to the island without trouble, but they were not to thrilled to see the latest addition to Berk's guard.

Aric raised his head above the armada, and well into the sky as far as the Berserkers were concerned. To see a massive Bewilderbeast towering above you for the first time, and with a clear scowl on its face…

…It was reported that some of the Berserkers shat or pissed their pants.

Aric blew a great stream of his icy breath in front of the ships, and several small ones to capture the Skrills in the air. Once the Skrills were turned into ice cubes, it was Brünhild's task to take them into the tunnels for their safety. Everyone on Berk now knew that Toothless hatched with these dragons; they were good dragons being commanded by one bad man. Yes, the only bad guy in this fight was Dagur the Deranged.

"What in the name of Loki is _that?_" Dagur asked himself as he looked down from the Thunder Queen's back and at the Bewilderbeast. He didn't see _that_ coming.

After seeing what Aric had done to her beloved Skrills, the Thunder Queen raised her immense wings to full height and extension, and delivered a wing blast that sounded like a full thunderstorm down upon Aric. Waves of water crashed over Aric's head and the Bewilderbeast was knocked off his feet by the sheer force of the blast.

"Have I ever told you that I love you?" Dagur asked the Black Typhoon after seeing her display of strength.

Aric did get back on his feet in time, but he kept in mind that the dragons that came with the Berserkers nested with the Thunder Queen, and she was not going to tolerate him turning her dragons into ice.

Now after battling through the horde of Night Furies and Skrills, Shadowrath and Whoshadow were finally close enough to the Thunder Queen to begin their attack. Whoshadow recognized the bastard who stabbed her foot. Instantly, she went into full rage.

"And I shall smite the wicked and plunge them into a fiery pit!" Whoshadow roared with inconceivable rage. The crazed, vengeful, Skrill barreled towards the Thunder Queen, lightning sparking all over her body. As she was about to fire to exact her revenge, the Thunder Queen had turned, saw Whoshadow coming, and delivered a wing blast that would've made her the envy of all Black Typhoons! It sent Whoshadow and Claudette well over one hundred meters away easily.

When the team decelerated to a halt, Claudette told the crazed Skrill: "I know you want to exact your revenge on the bastard who had the audacity to stab your beautiful foot, but you still need to keep your wits girl. Now let's try it again. Stoick and Shadowrath can't take a Black Typhoon one-on-one."

So, Whoshadow turned around and gave it another go, only to find that Stoick had called for Eret, Helga and Tuffnut, and Ruffnut for backup. Not to mention, Sapphire had joined them. So Claudette decided that it would be best to pursue them, and zapped any dragon that got to close to their friends.

* * *

><p>Hiccup teamed up with Astrid and Valka, their main job was to keep the opposing dragons from destroying the village. Plenty of the other dragon riders, including Alvin and Blade, were doing the same task… Hiccup's position was just special.<p>

A pair of the Thunder Queen's Night Furies flew straight at Toothless. The smaller of the two locked claws and were about to duel, but then they caught each other's smell and time just seemed to freeze around them.

"Shadeghost, is that you?" The dragon asked Toothless.

"_Mother_?" He questioned. The dragon, Lady Anora, looked over to her mate and called out: "Zephyr, it's Shadeghost!"

"_Shadeghost_?" Hiccup questioned.

"Yeah, it's the name I had before 'Toothless' and _that_ was Lady Anora, my mother and your daughter's namesake!" Toothless replied. Lady Anora had Toothless' eyes but she was more of a dark grey than black. As for her mate, he was almost as black as Shadowrath but he had yellow eyes.

"Well, your folks sure are an attractive couple." Hiccup stated. Lady Anora and Zephyr eventually turned their attention to another dragon rider, and chased them into the tunnels where they would get lost.

* * *

><p>The Berserkers made it past Aric and through the walls, and several of them were captured and imprisoned on the spot. They fought the people of Berk and the Outcasts, but it was mainly for show. Otherwise Dagur would've interfered with the Thunder Queen.<p>

Speaking of the Black Typhoon. She was doing a wonderful job of keeping the other dragons and dragon riders away from her and her rider. She favored blasting them away with her wings, but at times she'd send them a spark of lightning or a plasma blast, especially if she found a dragon rider in pursuit of one of her beloved dragons.

The Thunder Queen also kept her eyes on the Bewilderbeast, he tried to control her, but as another Alpha species, she was immune to Aric's special ability. However, she could do very little as far as keeping Aric from breathing his icy breath at her.

In a way to help the other dragons, Aric constructed a glacier, where dragons could fight on land without being on the island. It was a lot of work, but it went smoothly with the aid of another Dragonstone he had. Unfortunately, something went wrong with it; during the construction of the glacier, it got a large crack in the middle. The crack was only fifteen feet wide and fifty feet deep, but it could spell disaster for anyone unfortunate enough to fall through it.

However, the glacier worked. The dragons were using it to fight their opponents, and to rest their wings at the same time. Among those dragons were Barf and Belch, and Helga was showing who was the boss of the glacier by flailing her mace in every direction, sounding her own battle cry, and avoiding the large crack, as she struck dragon after dragon.

Gobber had also joined the Glacier Club on Grump's back. Grump was a bit of a mace menace himself, as he knocked dragon after dragon in their heads by using his tail and an occasional blast of fire.

* * *

><p>So far the battle was all fun and games, but then Dagur caught sight of Hiccup and Toothless and now it was time for him to attack! The Thunder Queen began pursuit of them, and fired a plasma blast! It knocked the panel off of Hiccup's shoulder armor, and it revealed the Dragonstone he had stored inside it. Toothless turned around, Hiccup used the stone to conjure fire, and throw the flaming orbs at Dagur and the Thunder Queen. He struck her face a few times, but then another Skrill came around, and locked claws with Toothless.<p>

Now with Toothless focused on not getting zapped by the Skrill, Dagur ordered the Thunder Queen to fire at Hiccup again. This time he was knocked off of his saddle, and the Dragonstone was dislodged from his armor.

"TOOTHLESS!" Hiccup screamed as he was plummeting down to the glacier. He opened up his flying-squirrel suit and chased after the stone in hopes it would save him if no other dragon could.

Hearing his rider's scream, Toothless charged up a powerful plasma blast, and threw the Skrill off of him. He was flapping wildly to reach his rider, but Hiccup got a good head start.

After seeing Hiccup getting shot out of his saddle, Valka, Stoick, and Astrid were flying after him with Toothless, but Toothless was the closest one to him. In the meantime, the action enraged Claudette and Whoshadow. So they made for another approach to take Dagur down. Whoshadow was nearing Dagur, ready to snatch the dirty bastard with her claws; but once again, the Thunder Queen turned, saw them, and gave them a wing blast! This time she sent them into the outer ice wall, and upon collision, Whoshadow lost consciousness.

Now, Hiccup had fallen into the crack, there was no way that Toothless could save him now, he simply could not fit! With a mere twenty feet more to go before collision, Hiccup caught the Dragonstone, but unfortunately, he hit a beam of ice with his head, and ricocheted to the floor, blood spilling from his head.

"NNNOOO!" Astrid screamed. All at once, she, Valka, Stoick, Toothless, Sapphire, and Midnightfire gathered where Hiccup had landed, all on the same side of the crack. Looking down they saw Hiccup's still form from the glow of the Dragonstone.

"Hiccup!" Astrid called to him.

No response.

"HICCUP!" Stoick boomed. The other dragon riders caught this and gathered with them to see what was going on.

Again, there was no response.

Toothless roared with obvious panic and worry.

Nothing, not even movement came from Hiccup.

Toothless called over a Terrible Terror and sent the small dragon down to Hiccup to see what had happened to him. The Terrible Terror flew down and bit Hiccup's good leg, but he didn't give a reaction to the bite. The Terrible Terror moved over to Hiccup's head, and got the information she was looking for. She flew back to the top, landed, looked at Toothless in the eyes, and bowed her head mournfully.

Even the Vikings knew what that meant. Astrid fell to her knees, hands clutching at her chest over her heart, and she screamed into the air. Toothless roared a few more times at Hiccup before he finally had to admit his brother-in-arms fate. He threw his head up and released the most sorrowful roar imaginable, before he too collapsed. Now dragons normally don't cry, but as he was looking down into the crack, Toothless was sobbing. Midnightfire clung to one of her mother's forelegs and wept; Stoick and Valka clung to each other crying in each other's shoulders, Gobber turned to Grump and screamed into his hide, and other Vikings removed their helmets with their tears flowing.

* * *

><p>"What was that sound?" Snotlout asked. The sound in question was Astrid's scream mixed with the roar of a Night Fury with a shattered heart.<p>

"I don't know, but it sounded worse than the shrieks of the Skrills we had to chase off." Fishlegs replied.

"If that's the case, I'm going to take Hookfang and investigate." Snotlout told them. He and Hookfang took off at the highest speed a Monstrous Nightmare could muster. They were gone for a short while before returning.

As Snotlout dismounted, he turned to Fishlegs; his eyes were turning red and welling up with tears. He clung to Fishlegs in an embrace and blubbered: "Hi-Hiccup i-i-i-is _dead!_"

Gothi was stuck by so much sudden grief that she swooned.

"Are you serious?" Fishlegs asked after Gothi hit the ground.

"YES!" Snotlout wailed. Hookfang hung his head in sadness too.

* * *

><p>Seeing the commotion from above, Dagur landed the Thunder Queen on the other side of the crack, where he found the Haddock family in sobs. He looked down into the crack and let out a victorious howl.<p>

"At last! I have defeated Hiccup! BERK IS NOW MINE!" He exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air. Toothless looked up and snarled at Dagur.

"You are the reason he is dead, and I swear to Loki, Thor, and Odin, you will pay!" He snarled. He was about to charge up a fatal plasma blast, but the Thunder Queen threatened to give him a wing blast, not to mention, her dragons were grouping around her.

"You Berkians better start packing now." Dagur told them. The Thunder Queen was ready to get hostile, but there was no need for it. The Berkians and Outcasts gathered their needs children, and an unconscious Whoshadow and Claudette. Now, they were forced to flee. Their destination… Outcast Island.

* * *

><p><strong><em>TO BE CONTINUED…<em>**

**You mad, Bro? Look back at the Author's Note at the end of Chapter Four, you can't say I didn't warn you.**


	13. AN

**Ok, I'm sorry if you're disappointed that this is not a new chapter but I am curious about something:**

**After the events of Chapter Twelve: The Monster is Loose, did you guys simply not care whether or not Hiccup stays dead?**

**I work to please, and if you want me to bring Hiccup back... well, I suppose that I could take a few suggestions.**

**I promise a new chapter tomorrow. You may have to wait a bit for the event regarding this post. After three chapters at the most. I promise you.**


	14. Chapter 13: Oceans Away

**Chapter Thirteen: Oceans Away**

**First scene is written for Rouge Deity Master's request. I hope you like it. **

By the time the Berkians and Outcasts arrived to Outcast Island, Whoshadow had come to her senses, and she was outraged. The man who had stabbed her foot was right in her reach and she lost him! She was setting off sparks, thrashing about, and roaring furiously at the top of her lungs.

"Whoa, out of control Skrills are awesome!" Tuffnut declared.

"Whoshadow, I need you to calm the hell down!" Claudette exclaimed. Alvin turned to their butcher shop, grabbed a leg of lamb, and handed it to Claudette to see is she would calm down, but the Skrill's appetite was only limited for destruction and revenge.

"Claudette, I can't have a rampaging Skrill of the island, otherwise the island will be destroyed." Alvin stated.

"I fear that she may not settle for a mutton dummy like we did the last time she was this angry." She stated.

If any dragon or Viking took a step towards Whoshadow, she would emit sparks, raise her wings, and roar at them. Claudette had enough of this and decided that it was going to take some drastic measures to subdue the Skrill.

"Midnightfire, come here." Claudette ordered, extending her arm to act as a perch. The young Night Fury flew over to her and made her perch. Claudette looked to Midnightfire and told her: "I'm going to need you to turn her human. She's too dangerous for us as a Skrill."

_She is pretty scary right now._ Midnightfire thought. She aimed her Dragonstone, gave it a tap, and zapped Whoshadow.

The change was quick and painless, and Whoshadow didn't even pass out at the end of it. In fact she was still standing up; and as far as appearances were concerned: her hair was a red so deep it was pretty much maroon, her eyes were a bright yellow-green, slightly tanned skin, a lean build, she stood at about five-foot-nine, and she was wearing a bright purple tunic with black trousers.

Claudette sent Midnightfire back to her parents, ran for Whoshadow, and tackled her to the ground. The Skrill-turned-human struggled to get Claudette off of her, but it was to no avail, he rider will not release her until she relaxed. She took several deep breaths before she finally eased up and Claudette got off of her and helped Whoshadow up to her feet again.

"There, now that's much better. You won't accidentally harm anyone in this form." Claudette stated.

"Yes, it is much better for us." Alvin stated.

Whoshadow dropped got down to her knees and a tear rolled down her cheek. Meatlug and Sapphire stepped forward and tried to console her, and eventually she found her voice: "First Dagger stabs me, and now he dances over the Dragon Chief. I _need _to make him suffer."

"Whoshadow, we _all _need to make him suffer now. When he escaped his prison cell, it was up to Alvin to make him pay for his actions; when he stabbed you, we would've let you take care of him when time allowed it; but now that he is responsible for the loss of our Chief, it just got personal for all of us." Astrid stated as she gestured to everyone present while holding her daughter in one arm.

"She's right, this war just got personal for everyone here. Now, if you don't mind, I'll be spreading the word around to the Outcasts, who've stayed here during the fight, and bring them up to date on what happened. I'll see that you Berkians will be accommodated for your stay here. Now, since the Haddock family suffered the greatest lost, you shall stay in my home." Alvin told them.

* * *

><p>In a few words, Alvin's home was rustic and cozy. It provided enough space for guests and dragons. As the Haddock family filed inside, Blade started up a fire, and Alvin grabbed some mugs to fill up with mead.<p>

Sapphire, Stormfly, Shadowrath, and Cloudjumper all settled around Blade's fire, but Toothless and Midnightfire chose a dark corner to claim. Toothless' heart was broken; out of all of the dragons on Berk, he had the strongest bond with his rider, with maybe the exception of Fishlegs and Meatlug. Now, it was gone.

"I can't imagine the pain you all are going through… but I'll try to comfort you the best I can." Alvin told the Haddocks as he handed out the mugs of mead

"Thank you, Alvin." Stoick replied. Valka had pretty much gone mute for the day.

Alvin offered a mug to Astrid, but she declined it. She just wanted to sit between Stormfly and Sapphire and hold Anora.

"So, Stoick, does this mean that you're the Chief again?" Alvin asked.

"It's either me or Snotlout… and that boy is not fit to be a leader for dragon riders." He replied.

"He's not fit to be a leader at all." Astrid retorted. Shadowrath and Cloudjumper snorted in agreement. They knew that Snotlout was a reckless idiot.

A few minutes later, Anora began to fuss. She was hungry, and in need of her special cocktail of milk and fish blood. Astrid handed the dragon-eyed infant over to her grandparents and she proceeded to go out and get the fish and milk.

Upon looking at the child, Alvin was taken aback. He was at Berk when Astrid laid the egg, but he hadn't really conceived that the baby would have such visible draconic characteristics; and yet she seemed to be the fitting child of the Dragon Chief.

"Well now, she's an unusual, but beautiful child." Alvin stated.

"Yes, she is." Stoick replied.

A knock came from the door and it turned out to be Gobber and Grump. The blacksmith looked to be in pretty bad shape, but then again, there weren't many Berkians who looked like themselves at the present time.

"Hey, Gobber, is there something we can do for you?" Stoick asked.

"I can't sleep, and I can't bear to look at a smithy anymore. All the tools remind me of Hiccup now." He replied. By now Astrid came back with Anora's dinner. Valka didn't want to give up holding her granddaughter just yet, so Astrid handed the bottle to her so Valka could feed Anora.

"Why did it have to be _him_? Out of all the Vikings that we could possibly have lost, why did it have to be Hiccup?" Gobber asked. He was clinging onto Stoick with his good arm and using his mug prosthetic to try and drink his sorrows away.

* * *

><p>Snotlout and Hookfang found Helga and the twins sitting at the side of a cliff. Barf and Belch were taking a nap, but Ruffnut's dragon, Scauldy, was underneath the water's surface.<p>

"I thought that the three of you would be going around causing trouble." Snotlout stated.

"We're just not up to it after what happened back home." Helga replied as she stroked Barf's head.

"I'm surprised that you and Hookfang are flying around. Hiccup was your cousin." Ruffnut told Snotlout.

"That's because I'm training him for our next attack! The next time we fight the Berserkers, Hookfang will burn Dagur alive!" He exclaimed.

"You better get in line behind Whoshadow. I heard that she's in the arena with her rider and Fishlegs, and she's planning on her revenge on Dagur." Tuffnut replied.

"Don't forget about Toothless, Astrid, Stoick, and Valka. I'm sure that they plan on having a piece of the action." Helga added, Snotlout rolled his eyes at them and took off again. Secretly, Snotlout was grieving with the loss in his own place.

* * *

><p>Down at the arena, Whoshadow was venting her rage by throwing axes and daggers at a stack of barrels. At the same time, Fishlegs, Claudette, and Meatlug were piled together on the sidelines. Claudette observed Whoshadow's throwing technique and was mildly surprised at how advanced her aim was. She was hitting some of the barrels right in their centers.<p>

After watching Whoshadow throw a grand total of thirty-seven weapons, Fishlegs and Claudette pulled Whoshadow away from the barrels. Fishlegs then told her: "Listen, you can brood all you want, but it isn't going to change everything, you need to calm down. Why not just tell us what's going on inside your head?"

"What in the name of flight is there to say? The Thunder Queen's rider was right in my reach, and I ended up getting knocked out just before I could grab him; and because I couldn't exact my revenge on him for what he did to me, we lost the Dragon Chief! Now, just a couple hours ago, you took away my wings and lightning! Why would you do that?"

"We had to, Whoshadow. The way you were sparking, you would've destroyed us all! Listen, it was not your fault, what happened to Hiccup, and right now it doesn't matter whose fault it was. All we can do now is grieve for our loss, recollect our wits, organize a plan, and then we'll show Dagur what happens when he commits such a crime. Who knows, maybe we'll let you have the honors of punishing him." Fishlegs replied.

Whoshadow gave a sharp sigh and told them: "They better let me have at him."

"Well you can't do that right now… So, what do you want to do now?" Claudette asked her. Whoshadow gave her a glance in the eye, sighed, and told them: "I want to see the Haddocks."

"We can do that." Fishlegs and Claudette said together. So on they went to Alvin's home.

* * *

><p>Stoick answered the door to find the Ingerman's with their dragons on the other side.<p>

"I wanted to see how you were all holding up." Whoshadow stated.

"Thank you… It seems that we're holding up better than Gobber." Stoick replied, he gestured to the passed-out blacksmith. He had too much mead.

Fishlegs and Claudette went straight to Astrid, Meatlug over to Toothless and Midnightfire, and Whoshadow went over to Valka and Anora. Valka just couldn't give the infant up that night, and little Anora fascinated Whoshadow.

"Stoick, if you would like, we Outcasts will plan for a feast in your son's honor." Alvin stated.

"You're the Chief of this island, so I will have no say in what celebrations you plan on making. After what happened, and how the other Berkians are acting about it, I feel as if I am no longer in the Archipelago, but oceans away from my home." Stoick replied.

"We are oceans away from home. Home was happy, prosperous, and safe, and during the battle it was the exact opposite of all of those things. Now, we are not even in our respective homes, and Berk is not the same island it was. Berk is no longer home; home is oceans away from us, but not according to the maps, but according to our hearts and minds." Astrid replied as she stroked Stormfly's head.

Meatlug and Toothless held a conversation for a while, but the only person who could understand and translate it was Whoshadow. It clearly caught her attention, and she moved over to the Night Fury.

"Toothless, please stay strong. You're our Alpha, and we can't loose you too." She told him.

"What's wrong with him?" Valka asked, finally finding her voice again.

"His heart is broken, and dragons do not fare well with broken hearts. Toothless needs a lot of attention and love if he is going to see the day where we reclaim our home. He isn't talking much, but I think I can speak for him when I say: He will need someone to push him forward, but he will refuse to bond with anyone. The dragons will have to provide him with moral support, but you Vikings will have to make sure he eats well and get him outside. A weak dragon will not survive a fight, and a weak Alpha would be challenged." Whoshadow told them.

Toothless gave a defeated moan. Sapphire went over to him and started licking his face, and Shadowrath watched over them just trying to keep a brave face.

Within time, the Ingerman's left, leaving only Whoshadow behind; and one by one, dragons and Vikings were falling asleep in Alvin's home. Only Astrid had a dream…

_She was on Berk flying Stormfly, and surveying the damage that had been caused by a battle. It wasn't that bad, everything was repairable. So she urged her beloved Deadly Nadder to land; and once on the ground, Valka found her, the grandmother was holding Anora in her arms, but she handed the infant over to her a moment later._

_Astrid roamed around the plaza for a while until a happy Toothless landed in front of her with Hiccup on his saddle!_

_Hiccup removed his flight mask to reveal his smile as he dismounted and approached Astrid. He looked around at the damage, touched one of Astrid's exposed hands, kissed her cheek, and told her: "Do not worry, everything is going to be alright."_

_She was happy and her life felt like it was whole._

Astrid woke up smiling from the dream, but then she recalled the previous day's events. She began crying, and pulled Anora closer.

_NNNNNNOOOOOO!_ Her mind screamed. She felt split in two and she was in despair, but if she looked over to Toothless, she would see him twitching as he was no doubt having a dream of trying to save Hiccup from that fall.

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><p><strong>One chapter down, two more chapters to go. Thank you all for participating, your reviews drive my fingers to type faster. I promise you that you won't have to wait for long to find out whether or not Hiccup keeps the fate I gave him in the previous chapter.<strong>

**By the way, this chapter is named after a song by Roger Daltrey, look it up, it is a beautiful ballad. **


	15. Chapter 14: Round Robin

**Chapter Fourteen: Round Robin**

Dagur was checking over the island he won, and just after the people of Berk had left, he found a large gemstone set in some sort of staff that was stuck into the ground. He didn't know what type of jewel it was, but he knew that it was big and so it was probably valuable. He didn't know that it was Berk's community Dragonstone.

With his brute strength, Dagur pulled the staff from the ground, brought it over to the Berserker blacksmith, and ordered him to make a belt buckle out of the Jewel in the staff, and if he didn't have it done by noon the next day, he would sic one of the Thunder Queen's Skrills on him. So with great reluctance, the blacksmith dipped into Berk's resources and started working on the belt.

* * *

><p>It was sunset after the battle on Berk. The Berserkers were making their home wherever they pleased, but at least Goosefoot was the one to claim the Haddock house. He swore to himself that he would see to it that it goes back to the rightful owners.<p>

By sunset, Goosefoot was preparing a large cauldron of fish stew, large enough to feed six big Berserkers. He had invited five of his most loyal supporters to come over and discuss the battle and the grief they had caused the Berkians.

The guests were given a bowl and sat down at the table. They ate in silence, but that was to be expected from them; spoonful-by-spoonful, the fish stew diminished, and now that the guests were fed, Goosefoot cleared away the table, and returned to stand at the head of it.

In a hushed but serious tone, Goosefoot told them: "My most loyal Berserkers, I've gathered you all here because today, Dagur the Deranged has gone too far in his tyranny."

The five Berserkers nodded in agreement as Goosefoot continued on saying: "Before Dagur showed up, we were prosperous, safe, and we were happy. We were just about to regain our alliances and we almost got back on Berk's good side. Now that he's defeated the Dragon Chief, chances are that we may loose our alliances that we've worked so hard to regain, and we will never get back on Berk's good side… That is unless we do something drastic. Ladies and gentlemen, I say that it is time to get serious, and set up a real mutiny against Dagur."

The five Berserkers nodded again.

"Now, it will be too risky to overtake Dagur with that large dragon being at his side constantly, and since she seems to be the Queen of the dragons, then that means that her horde of dragons would do anything to protect her. That being said, it means that the dragons will make sure we don't harm the Queen, and the Queen will make sure that we don't harm Dagur." Goosefoot stated.

"So what are we going to do then?" One of the Berserker men asked.

"I say that we each gain the trust of our own dragon, like the Dragon Chief. Once we get them to trust us, we will meet during the nights and train them underneath Dagur's nose. When we go back to war against the Berkians and Outcasts, we will _pretend_ to fight against them, so Dagur won't suspect anything, and then we all turn against him and make sure that he pays for his crimes. Now, I need you all to sign your names in the round robin, swearing that you will take a part of this plan and will not say a word about it to Dagur." Goosefoot told them.

All six Vikings signed the round robin, and Goosefoot kept it on his person. Now it was time for them to find a dragon to claim as their own…

* * *

><p>"Zephyr, did you hear how our son cried at the end of the fight?" Lady Anora asked her mate.<p>

"Aye, I did, it sounded terrible. Do you know what happened?" Zephyr asked.

"Yes, I saw it all. When I ran into Shadeghost, I found a human on his back; the human was young, but mature. Later on, after I had finally escaped those damned tunnels, I saw Shadeghost diving after the human that was on his back, but he couldn't catch him, because the human had fallen into the crack of the glacier. The humans, which I assume were his mate and father, shouted into the crack and got nothing, Shadeghost roared but nothing, and eventually they all figured out that this one human's fate had been sealed." Lady Anora replied.

"I can't imagine our son showing concern for a human." Zephyr stated.

"Neither could I until I actually saw him. Zephyr, this human was special, not just to Shadeghost, but to _all_ of the humans that were here… And, oh, our son's cries… They were the cries of a dragon's heart breaking. I think he needs us now more than he ever did when he was a hatchling."

"If his heart is broken, then I agree. We must find him now."

So the two Night Furies found Toothless' scent and started making their way to Outcast Island.

* * *

><p>One of the round robin signers had slipped a little sleeping potion into Dagur's dinner just after the meeting. He was, after all, appointed as Dagur's personal cook; but now that the psychotic Chief was out of commission, Goosefoot and his followers were free to roam Berk with several fish tied to their belts.<p>

They eventually split up and went to find a good dragon on their own. The majority of them wanted a Night Fury, in honor of the Dragon Chief, but the dark dragons wouldn't let the Berserkers close enough to them, as they were too proud to have one of them ride their backs. So they settled for mainly Monstrous Nightmares and Timberjacks. However, Goosefoot, being a patriotic Berserker, chose to bond with a Skrill; it was the symbol of their tribe.

He eventually found one that would allow him to get within five feet, but then Goosefoot noticed that the Skrill did not approve of the dagger he kept at his belt. Goosefoot took it off, and tossed it aside, telling the Skrill: "It's okay, I don't want to harm a magnificent dragon like yourself."

The Skrill eased up and looked at the fish at Goosefoot's belt, it would've preferred sheep, but fish were a good second option.

"Ah, yes, I mighty warrior like yourself must be pretty hungry. Would you like my fish?" Goosefoot asked. The Skrill licked its chops in response. So Goosefoot held out a fish, and the Skrill swallowed it. They repeated that pattern until all fish were gone; but then the Skrill noticed that this human didn't eat any, so it regurgitated half a fish for him. Goosefoot remembered the Dragon Chief telling him that if a dragon did this, the beast would expect you to eat it. After the former Chief took a bite out of the fish, the Skrill gave him a playful nudge on the shoulder.

"You will be great for our cause, and I shall name you: Vengeance." Goosefoot told the dragon, realizing that it was male.

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><p><strong>Two down, one to go. Now what should I do with Dagur? Please leave some suggestions, and feel free to go crazy.<strong>


	16. Chapter 15: To Accept, and Push On

**Chapter Fifteen: To Accept, and Push On**

It was the next morning after the battle; and during the night, as the Vikings and dragons were asleep, two more Night Furies had arrived on Outcast Island. They tracked down their son's scent to one of the largest human dwellings, and as much as they wanted to open the door to comfort their son, they decided that it was best if they went in when the other occupants were awake. When they made this decision, they decided that they would sleep right outside the door.

When Zephyr and Anora woke up to the sounds and smells of humans cooking and talking, Zephyr raised a claw, and he started tapping on the door.

Shadowrath actually had the dexterity and brains to open the door, and the newly arrived Night Furies were taken aback when they locked eyes with a scarred Night Fury with blazing red-violet eyes. It is also worth mentioning that Shadowrath was also snarling at them.

"Shadowrath, what are you growling at?" Stoick asked as he approached him. Shadowrath stepped back, allowing Stoick to see the visitors, but he never took his blazing and furious eyes off of them.

Stoick took a good look at the two dragons. Clearly, they were mates from judging the fact that they were close in age, differing in genders, looked different, and there was the fact that Night Furies only lay one egg per mating season. Now, Stoick was looking at their characteristics; the female had Toothless' eyes, but the male was quite a bit darker than her.

As Shadowrath started to growl again, Stoick hushed him saying: "Calm down, Shadowrath, you are a great warrior, but you don't need anymore scars. Besides, they're not showing any sign of threat. In fact, they look like they could be Toothless' parents."

_Toothless, who's Toothless?_ The mates thought. Never mind that…

Stoick and Shadowrath stepped aside to allowed Lady Anora and Zephyr inside. The new dragons were dismayed to find that there were a handful of dragons clustered together around a fire pit, but their precious hatchling was curled up in a corner with a human girl who reeked of a Skrill's scent.

Lady Anora licked Toothless awake saying: "Hey, Shadeghost, momma's here, and so is your father."

Toothless and Whoshadow were now awake, but with Zephyr looking at Whoshadow disapprovingly, the Skrill-turned-human decided that it was best to give the Night Furies their space. She may've left Toothless, but she made sure that Sapphire was awake. Midnightfire was still sleeping under her father's wing, and couldn't be seen by her grandparents.

"I thought you were still on Berk." Toothless spoke, he wasn't moving much though.

"I saw what happened and how you reacted. We figured that we were needed here more than where the Thunder Queen is." Lady Anora replied. She then nudged Toothless onto his feet; he was stubborn at first, but this was his mother, and she only wanted to help him. So he stayed up, and revealed Midnightfire too.

"Who is _this_?" Zephyr asked astonished.

"Her name is: Midnightfire. I am her mother, Sapphire, and Toothless is her father."

"Our Shadeghost has a mate and hatchling!" Lady Anora exclaimed with delight, and woke up both Midnightfire and a human baby, who started crying.

Midnightfire didn't want to hear tears anymore, so she flew over to the little Anora to try and calm her down with her presence. Valka and Astrid had also put a pause to their cooking to make sure that the baby would calm down.

Toothless figured that his friends and parents would want him moving, so he approached Astrid when she picked up the baby. Her crying was harsh to Toothless' ears, but he wanted to make sure that she was really okay.

"She's fine, Toothless, she just didn't like being woken up." Astrid said.

"Actually, his parents are calling him: Shadeghost." Whoshadow spoke up.

"Shadeghost, huh, it seems to be a name a Night Fury could bear proudly." Stoick stated with Shadowrath nodding in agreement.

"I agree with that too, but he would rather be called: Toothless. I think the reasons behind that are obvious." Whoshadow stated.

"Well, as his parents, we will call him by the name we gave him. Now, Shadeghost, would you please tell us what made the human so important to you?" Lady Anora said.

Toothless elaborated on everything that happened between him and Hiccup. He started from how they met, and ended at the point where they defeated Drago Bludvist for a second time. His parents were in awe as to how their son not only battled, but also defeated a Red Death and a Bewilderbeast, and to find out that Aric was not their Alpha, but that Toothless was. They were also greatly impressed that Toothless had the command to have his dragons create Dragonstones.

"Now we understand why your heart is broken." Zephyr stated.

"Breakfast time." Valka called out. By now, all dragons and humans in Alvin's household were awake, although Gobber had to be woken up by a few slaps to the face.

Astrid had set Anora back in her makeshift bed and began to hand out fish and chicken to the dragons. Since Toothless would need an extra boost of energy to push through the day, was given more of the chicken than the fish. He kind of picked through his breakfast, but his friends and family made damn sure that he ate most of it.

"Whoshadow, there's something I want to ask you." Astrid stated, looking up from her bowl of oatmeal.

"I can only guess what that would be." She replied, looking up from her fish.

"As much as I love Stormfly, I want to ask you if you'd be alright if I rode you for the next battle we have against Dagur. Both you and I want to destroy Dagur for the pain he's caused us equally, and hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, scarred, and broken-hearted."

"I like the way you think, Astrid, and for that I will allow you to ride me, but I want Claudette to be okay with that." Whoshadow replied. Toothless explained to his confused parents that Whoshadow was really a Skrill, and he made sure that they were clear about the relationships between the humans and dragons were to Hiccup. Lady Anora was quite proud to find out that her son's best friend made his daughter her namesake.

"Hey, where Dagur simply stabbed your foot, Claudette actually cut mine _off_. Now she'll do just about anything to keep us on good terms, although giving her a guilt trip would be the first time I'd actually abuse it." Astrid replied.

"Alright, but when Claudette agrees, I'm going to need some practice flying with you. I know that every dragon flies differently from another, even if they're the same breed, so following that train of thought, it must mean that not all humans ride the same. Of course, because you're all different weights and sizes, you'd all feel very different. You also fight differently than Claudette." Whoshadow told her.

* * *

><p>With breakfast over with, the humans and dragons left Alvin's house to conduct their business. However, Toothless had to be dragged out of the house, and once outside, he had a choice: He could go flying around the island with his friends and family (and Whoshadow would be riding Cloudjumper), or Shadowrath would challenge him for the Alpha position. Now, with a broken heart, all Toothless wanted to do was go back in the corner and be left to grieve.<p>

It took a lot of encouraging from his friends and family, and quite a bit of snarling from Shadowrath, before they convinced Toothless to stretch his wings and take to the sky, but he wasn't flying high or fast enough for them. He wasn't above any treetops, and a Terrible Terror could pass him.

"Come on, love, fly for your life!" Sapphire called out. She was desperately trying to encourage him, but for some reason, Toothless didn't find the motivation in the word 'life', but he ascended a little bit.

"Daddy, fly for me! I don't want to see you like this." Midnightfire told him. Looking into Midnightfire's eyes, he saw her hope for him and they reflected his love or her. So for Midnightfire, he sped up more.

From below, Hookfang, Barf, Belch, Scauldy, and Meatlug saw their friends trying to encourage Toothless to mend his broken heart and regain the strength he would need to fight again, and just to live. So they woke up their riders and demanded that they go flying right now! It didn't take long for them to take to the skies and join the party.

"Fly for your allies!" Blade called out to Toothless. 'Allies' wasn't much of a motivator, but he knew that they were needed. So he ascended a little bit.

"Hey, Astrid's hurting too, and she has the responsibility of raising a hatchling on her own! Now fly for Astrid!" Stormfly shouted. For Astrid he sped up more.

"Now what about the baby, Anora?" Lady Anora called out. For the beautiful dragon-eyed baby, Toothless picked up even more speed and height.

"Hey, don't we mean anything to you? You're our Alpha, and we care about you! Now fly for us!" Hookfang roared.

"FLY FOR US!" The other dragons roared. For his draconic friends and family, Toothless' face of wallowing grief was replaced with determination. Yes, he was their Alpha, and these dragons meant a lot to him, so he was determined to regain his strength in order to be able to protect him. He let out a roar to voice his determination to make sure that they knew he would not let Dagur harm them or their riders.

The roar caused all humans to freeze where they were, or come out of their houses, and watch the scene take place. As for Berk's dragons, all of them had taken to the skies now, whether their riders, if they had one, were on their backs or not!

"Fly for Berk!" Shadowrath roared. For Berk, Toothless remembered that he swore to Loki, Thor, and Odin that he will make Dagur pay for his crimes. He sped up greatly, ascended more, and let out a furious bellow. The sound of it uplifted the dragons greatly and they ascended with him. Yes, their Alpha was refusing to be consumed by his broken heart and grief. He was going to be sure that his loss would not be in vain.

"FOR BERK!" Toothless called out. His following dragons roared it back to him as if it were a battle cry.

Now Cloudjumper pulled up to Toothless and he told him: "Now, Hiccup wouldn't want to see you wallowing in your grief. He also wouldn't want Berserkers on his island. Now, fly for his honor! FLY FOR HICCUP!"

"FLY FOR HICCUP!" _All_ of Berk's dragons roared.

They should've _started_ with that…

For Hiccup's honor, for his bravery, and for his friendship, Toothless made a vertical ascent of 1000 feet, with speed would have been unfathomed by Hiccup or Toothless, or _any _Strike class dragon! His ascent was a blink-and-you-miss moment, which had all dragons' heads suddenly pointing upwards.

Toothless was spiraling upwards, and he decided to do a flight dedicated to Hiccup's memory, and Toothless started it with Hiccup's favorite trick… The Dive Bomb.

He aimed downward, tucked in his wings, and plummeted to the ocean's surface at an alarming speed, but after pulling up, Toothless reenacted the first flight he and Hiccup had together, on speed. It even included the part where Hiccup slipped off of the saddle when he was trying to grab his cheat sheet.

As the flight reenactment came to a close, Toothless fired a plasma blast and thought to himself: _That was for you, Buddy, and so is this!_

Toothless, once again ascended with a vertical steep, and put on a show for dragons and humans. He dive bombed, spiraled, made tight turns, barrel-rolled, and weaved through sea stacks… All of them at screaming speeds. He was flying in a manner that was awe-inspiring, and made him the envy of all dragons.

As he was flying, Aric and Brünhild built him a pillar of ice for him to perch. Aric called Toothless down to it, and when he landed, Toothless had gone into Alpha mode, making some of his scales turn blue.

Toothless roared triumphantly, and then roared out the orders for the dragons to form a circle. They knew where this was going.

As the dragons formed a circle, they made sure that they had another dragon of the same species at the diameter of their circle.

Toothless roared out the order for them to start rotating, and faster and faster they went. The dragons breathed their fire and took their shots, until Toothless was satisfied.

From below, the humans were in awe over the spinning disk of fire, water, and lightning the dragons had created, but it was the final explosion from Toothless' shot that really mystified them.

The dragons dispersed, and Toothless came in for a landing before Astrid, holding the familiar rock in his claws. He had Meatlug crack this one open, and to reveal another Dragonstone. Astrid was grateful to find that Toothless wanted to give her this gift, but she told him: "Thank you, but this is your work of art, and I want you to have it for yourself."

"I'll take it then. I'll make Toothless a gauntlet for it to match Midnightfire's." Gobber announced. He plucked the stone out of the rock, patted Toothless on the back, and told him: "Thank you for that, it was just the thing we needed to see to get us to think about what really matters now."

* * *

><p>The next couple days have passed fairly slowly, but Gobber made Toothless the Gauntlet, Alvin and Stoick were planning on the feast in Hiccup's honor, and Toothless was doing much better. Very little trouble was also going on.<p>

A light rain was falling over Outcast Island, and a human Whoshadow wanted to feel the rain on her wings as she took in the lightning that was sure to follow it.

"So, Whoshadow, are you going to maintain your composure until the next battle?" Midnightfire asked her.

"Oh yes, now _please_ change me back!" She replied. Midnightfire tapped her Dragonstone and Whoshadow returned to her Skrill form. She grinned and stated: "Now this is much better!" Without a moment to lose, she took to the skies, just as the storm was beginning to pick up, and she took in as much lightning as possible!

As Whoshadow was harvesting lightning, the feast was being set up in the Outcast Great Hall.

"What do you think?" Alvin asked the Haddock family.

"It's lovely." Valka replied. Cloudjumper warbled in agreement. Now that Toothless was feeling better, Cloudjumper barely left Valka's side to make sure that she didn't fall into grief.

"Yes, it is an arrangement to be proud of." Stoick added.

"Good, we've been working hard on it." Alvin stated.

The tables were finally set, and the Vikings started filing in. They took their seats in a respectable quietness, and they stayed quiet until the toasts were made to the fallen chief's honor, before they dug in to the feast.

About halfway through the feast, a Terrible Terror flew into the hall, and landed before Alvin and Stoick with a letter tied to it. Alvin took the letter, and announced: "It's from former Chief Goosefoot!"

Alvin handed the letter to Stoick and he read it aloud:

_To the Berkians and Outcasts,_

_I just wanted you to know that the Berserker Tribe is disgusted with this war and we mourn your loss with you. Therefore, five of my most loyal supporters and I have signed a round robin and we've plotted a mutiny against Dagur._

_We plan on only pretending to fight with you for a short while to deceive Dagur for a while, but then we plan on turning against him right in the middle of the battle. The signers of the round robin, including myself, have been training dragons underneath Dagur's nose. We've only managed to tame Monstrous Nightmares and Timberjacks, but I managed to tame a male Skrill, and have named him: Vengeance. He hasn't been much trouble, and I've learned to ride him. So I will join your riders in the skies, and so will the round robin._

_Former Chief of the Berserker Tribe, Goosefoot._

To that, the Vikings cheered, and went back to their feast with even more gusto!

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><p><strong>Now that makes three. The next chapter will be the answer you've all been waiting for.<strong>


	17. Chapter 16: Fate

**Chapter Sixteen: Fate**

His hand…

…Grasped…

…The stone.


	18. Chapter 17: Awakening

**Chapter Seventeen: Awakening**

**I want to thank all of you for your participation and support. Your suggestions have been helpful, sometimes amusing, and sometimes disturbing. Whoo boy, some of these last few chapters have REALLY brought out your dark sides and blood thirst.**

**Alethea 13: Cheers to you for figuring that something was up since Chapter 12.**

**Midnight Dragon: Impatient much?**

**Shadowdragon1317: Those rants were your best yet.**

It was cold, dark, foggy, and there was a thunderstorm going on. His head was throbbing in pain, his body feeling weak, and there was a slight weight in the palm of his hand. He turned his head and found that he was holding the Dragonstone. With his body in as much pain as it was, he managed to fit the stone back into his shoulder armor, and he forced himself to stand up.

Looking around, he saw that he was in the crack of a glacier. It took a while, but he finally recalled the battle. Sudden fear overtook his pain, and he began finding holds in the walls of the crack and started climbing up. It wasn't easy with the whole glacier being made of ice. It wasn't as slippery as Hiccup presumed it would be, but it was frightfully cold; and yet, handhold-by-foothold, he slowly made it to the top. He flopped over to his back; he was exhausted from his efforts, and the pain he was in.

He looked to the sky; the rain, the clouds, and the lightning were beautiful and dangerous. He couldn't stay out here, he would get too cold, and he had to get home before the village got worried about him.

"Toothless! TOOTHLESS!" He called out.

"Toothless isn't here." A voice told him. He turned around and found three men, but they were no ordinary men, no, they were his gods: Thor, Loki, and Odin. He didn't know what else to do but get down on one knee and bow his head to them.

Odin chuckled and told him: "Like father like son, that was the exact reaction that he gave me when I came to him. Please, stand up, Hiccup."

"I knew it, I'm dead!" Hiccup spoke up.

Now all three gods chuckled.

"No, you're not dead… Although, I'll admit that you did give it a good shot. You stopped breathing for a while, and your heart actually paused for about an hour, but you caught the Dragonstone, and while it couldn't save you right away, it did allow you to survive, but you were comatose. If you weren't holding that stone when you made your collision, we would've had no choice but to open the doors to Valhalla for you." Odin replied.

"How long have I been out? Is my tribe safe? How did the battle go?" Hiccup asked.

"Whoa, easy there, Chief Hiccup. You've been out for four days. Your tribe is safe, but the battle was a loss for them after you went down for the count. I don't know how to break this gently to you, so I'm just going to say it: Your tribe does believe you to be dead, Dagur has claimed Berk for himself, and you tribe is living on Outcast Island for now." Thor told him.

"Yeah, I checked up on them the day they arrived there; the Hooligans were in pretty bad shape, and Toothless was suffering a broken heart. From what I heard from the other gods, they're doing better now." Loki stated. He stepped forward and circled around Hiccup a couple times.

"You've been a fascination of mine for some time now. Very few Vikings have shown a love for my draconic children, but you were the first to really appreciate them and eventually make an inseparable bond with one of the most feared ones." He stated. He noticed the Dragonstone set in his armor, pointed to it, and told Hiccup: "I would like to examine your stone."

Hiccup plucked it out of its place and handed it to Loki, who brought it over to his brother and father.

"It is a most impressive jewel. It proves that Toothless is a wonderful leader." Loki stated.

"Yes, and for our most interesting tribe, I say the three of us should bless it." Thor replied. Loki tossed the stone into the air, the three gods each held a hand out with their palms facing upwards, and the stone hovered above their heads.

From Thor's hand, he struck the stone with a bolt of lightning; Odin blessed the stone with a boost of strength and power; and Loki gave it more fire and perhaps a few other ingredients as he was the father of the dragons.

The stone gently fell to Loki's open hand, it turned from the color of Toothless' plasma blast, to an opalescent color with the dragon silhouette the color of fire; and as Loki approached Hiccup, he told him: "I know why they call you the Dragon Chief, but I must say that you don't look the part."

"What, is it because I'm not that big?" Hiccup asked.

"No, it's that leg of yours. We can mend that for you." Loki replied.

"Thank you, but I'm actually quite fond of it, as it was a gift from Toothless. I actually can't imagine myself with two feet anymore."

"Well, we can't have a Dragon Chief missing a limb right now." Loki stated.

"Yes, did we forget to mention that Dagur has taken your community Dragonstone?" Thor asked.

"HE HAS A DRAGONSTONE!" Hiccup exclaimed.

"He didn't allow it to be taken when your tribe was forced to flee. Luckily, he doesn't know of the powers it holds. He thinks that it is just an ordinary, but precious jewel." Odin replied.

"If you don't mind, I'd like to give the Dragon Chief his Dragonstone back without being interrupted. Now, Chief, I'm going to need your prosthetic and your weapons. You're not going into the next battle as a human, or you'd be killed for real, but with this blessed stone, you can switch forms whenever you please rather than waiting for three days; and your weapons and prosthetic will return to you when you assume human form, however, after this change, you won't be able to assume human form until you see blood." Loki told him. Hiccup wouldn't argue with gods, so he gave up the items Loki requested. Thor took them in his possession and stepped aside.

As Hiccup was balancing on his right foot, Loki held onto his arm to make sure he didn't topple over as he fitted the stone back into Hiccup's stone. Loki then snapped his fingers in front of his face, sending Hiccup into a spell of drowsiness. He could barely keep his eyes open, and his vision was blurred; but Loki then tapped the exposed stone, sending a bolt of magic into Hiccup's body, and he collapsed as he assumed draconic form… He became a Night Fury of course, but not your average Night Fury.

As Hiccup regained his senses, he checked his body over.

"I'm blue!" Hiccup exclaimed. He was somewhere in-between navy and cobalt blue, so brighter than Sapphire, but not as bright as Midnightfire; however, like Midnightfire, he also had a few silver scales scattered over his skin, and he had gotten his left foot back for a temporary amount of time. His eyes were still green though.

"Doesn't this coloration seem familiar to you?" Loki asked Hiccup.

"Yes, my niece, Midnightfire, has this pattern." He replied.

"She does indeed, but Midnightfire isn't your average Night Fury. Chances are that she's a subspecies of the Night Fury, but because this subspecies is so rare and we don't know everything about them, we didn't bother giving them their own name." Loki replied.

"One thing that we do know about them, and that Midnightfire doesn't, is that they can take in lightning and use it to charge up their plasma, it gives it an even more explosive quality." Thor stated.

"Thanks for that." Hiccup replied as he began stretching his wings.

"Whoa, where do you think you're going?" Odin asked.

"To Outcast Island of course. I should be with my tribe."

"We would rather you didn't. Dagur isn't planning on attacking that island right away, but the Outcasts and Hooligans are planning on coming here. Besides, we want your sudden back-from-the-dead appearance to have a much more amusing reaction than when your father revealed his identity at your wedding. So, stay here, because you'll end up having to come back here for the fight anyway, and you'd be discovered easily on Outcast Island. By the way, if your tribe discovers you on Outcast Island, then chances are that they'd be less motivated to make their attack in a timely manner, because they'd want to celebrate the fact that you're alive." Odin told Hiccup. He folded his wings and glanced downwards.

"Loki, Thor, I believe that it is time for us to leave now." Odin stated.

"Wait!" Hiccup called. The gods turned to face him as he asked: "Isn't there some way you can show me how my family is doing?"

"Come on, Dad, let the Chief check take a look at his family." Thor stated.

Odin nodded his head and knelt before Hiccup. He held out his hand and produced a mystical orb, which showed Hiccup what had happened since the battle. Odin showed him that Toothless was taking his loss pretty badly, but his parents, and the other dragons encouraged him to stay strong, and then he eventually reenacted the first flight he ever took on Toothless. The scene touched Hiccup dearly. Then the orb turned its attention to his parents, they were also grieving, but they were also trying to keep Gobber from drinking his sorrows away. When the stone turned to Astrid, he saw that she was practicing battle techniques while riding Whoshadow, and Claudette was on Stormfly. He was sure he'd find out why Astrid was doing this within time. Now, as for his child, he saw his wife and mother doing most of the work in taking care of the baby.

"Thank you, all of you. Your help means everything to me." Hiccup told the gods.

"You're very welcome, but before we go, Hiccup, there's something I want to tell you: Dagur must be punished most severely. The Black Typhoon is one of my most treasured of my draconic children. The Thunder Queen is very protective over the dragons in her nest, but she is also very trusting to anyone who shows her kindness. Dagur has taken advantage of her trust and is misusing her strengths for this battle. Please save her." Loki told Hiccup.

"I promise to save her. I refuse to kill dragons… with the exception of that one Red Death." Hiccup replied.

"Don't judge me. By the way, I must admit that out of all the Vikings, you are my favorite." Loki stated, and with that the gods disappeared.

Hiccup stretched his wings and went for a lap around Berk, taking in the lightning as he flew, before he went into a cave to spend the night.

_So, I died, I came back to life, met a few gods, got turned into a Night Fury by Loki, and I'm bound to make an amazing comeback. It's not the worse night I've ever had… In fact, I'd say that it was one of my better ones… And my gods it's weird having a left foot again!_ Hiccup thought as he curled up for the night.

During the night, Hiccup woke up to the sound of a dragon's footsteps and trilling. He got up and assumed a battle stance, ready to defend his cave, until he found out that the dragon outside was the Thunder Queen.

"It's alright, my darling, it's only your Queen." She told Hiccup when she stuck her head inside. Hiccup eased up, and allowed the Thunder Queen inside. She rested on the cave's floor, looked over to Hiccup, and spoke: "This is a lovely island, it's just as pretty as the one we had to abandon due to the volcano erupting. Well, it certainly is easier to get around than the one where we found the human Alpha. What do you think; should this be our new home?"

"I don't know, what if those humans we chased away come back?" Hiccup asked her. He figured it was best to act as though he was one of her dragons.

"We are a strong nest, darling, and we can always drive them away again. I've got the power to knock a fully-grown Bewilderbeast onto its side with a single wing blast, and you Night Furies are among the strongest of dragons. Those humans were a small nest, and they were delicate."

"Are you referring to the human you knocked off the native Night Fury?" Hiccup asked her.

"He did come across my mind. I was following the Alpha human's orders when I shot at him. I didn't expect such a reaction from his nest-mates and the dragon he was riding. That day was the first day I've seen a Night Fury, or any dragon, cry. That surprised me, and the weirdest thing was that the dragon seemed familiar to me, but I didn't get his name."

"I've heard another Night Fury refer to him as 'Shadeghost'."

"Are you serious? _That_ was Shadeghost? Oh my, he was one of the sweetest hatchlings of his generation… and to think that my rider had me cause him pain! Shadeghost… I wonder what he was doing here in the first place with all of those humans we've chased off. I wonder why he left with them too. He should've been more inclined to stay with the dragons he hatched with."

"I wish I knew, but I think that we did something wrong when we drove them away. From the looks of their village, they seem to be very friendly to dragons." Hiccup replied.

"I don't want to think about it right now. I'm just glad that we've found a home that fits our needs, and I will not allow us to be driven away if those humans return." The Thunder Queen stated.

_She really is a good and caring dragon, and she's lost her nest. I don't know if we can handle having her dragons live among ours though. It's hard enough for us to pull in as much fish to feed our dragons alone. Well, I'm sure that we can help her, but I doubt that we can let her nest remain here. Chances are that she would challenge Toothless if they stay, and while she is a good dragon, I don't want that to happen._ Hiccup thought. He then curled up for the night and fell back to sleep, knowing that the Thunder Queen was more likely to defend him than attack him in his sleep.

* * *

><p><strong>There, now you're all certain as to which fate I gave Hiccup. I am also still taking suggestions as to what you want me to do with Dagur.<strong>


	19. Chapter 18: Separate Ways, Worlds Apart

**Chapter Eighteen: Separate Ways, World's Apart **

On Outcast Island, Astrid was still being plagued by dreams of Hiccup. She could hear his voice, feel his touch, and see him in the fullest detail. It was hard for her to wake up from these wonderful dreams, but when she did, she was pained by the memory that she was a widow, and the memory blackened her heart further with the want of vengeance over her husband's demise; but once she pulled Anora in closer to her, she felt more relaxed, but the blackness will never leave until her axe tastes Dagur's blood.

"Astrid, come on, we better get moving." Valka told her. She took Anora in her arms and brought her downstairs while Astrid got ready for the day. She looked in the mirror to find her hair a wild mess. The thunderstorms were coming and going like crazy on the island, and Whoshadow didn't miss one to build up her lightning supply; and since Astrid was training with Whoshadow, she was prone to getting her hair to stand up on end. It was the only drawback to training with Whoshadow, but working with the vengeful Skrill was a real treat, and Claudette seemed to be getting along nicely with Stormfly.

She came down to find Gobber preparing breakfast this time. Gobber was only a fair cook, but at least it gave him something to work with other than metal at the smithy.

"It smells good, Gobber." Astrid stated.

"Thanks, this recipe has been passed down for generations in my family. It's my grandma's eel and cabbage stew; it always gave us that boost of strength we needed to power through a battle." He replied.

"_Eel_ stew? Damn it, we do not have chocolate!" Astrid exclaimed.

"Hiccup told me about your chocolate coated eels. No offense, but they were the most disturbing thing I've ever heard of." Gobber replied. He dished out the stew for the other Vikings as Astrid told him: "Hey, I was pregnant, I had cravings!"

"Just eat your stew." Gobber told her.

The stew wasn't exactly fit for breakfast, but it did a fine job in filling the Vikings' stomachs and satisfying them; and after her breakfast, Astrid went out to feed Stormfly some chicken and take her out for a flight around the island for a few times. Just because Astrid was training with Whoshadow, didn't mean that she wasn't spending time with Stormfly. Their bond with each other is strong, and it would take a lot for them to sever it.

Toothless eventually joined them for their flight, but in a way, Astrid wished he didn't. Seeing Toothless fly next to her reminded her of all those times Hiccup flown with her; but when she pushed her lingering grief aside, she noticed that Toothless seemed to be enjoying himself.

A moment later, Claudette and Whoshadow flew past them; they were doing the same thing that Astrid and Stormfly were doing. While Claudette was training with Stormfly, she still paid attention to Whoshadow.

Eventually, for fun, Stormfly and Whoshadow engaged a play-fighting game, which gave Astrid and Claudette a wild ride. At least Whoshadow had enough control over herself to keep her lightning contained. Mainly, the game involved a lot of chasing, some locked claws, and a few play scratches; and when the riders decided that the game was over, they jumped out of their saddles for the dragons to catch them. Whoshadow caught Astrid, and Stormfly did the same for Claudette.

* * *

><p>Hiccup woke up that morning by hearing the Thunder Queen's groans as she stretched out after waking up herself. Hiccup would've start moving about as well, but the Thunder Queen didn't have any Night Furies of his coloration in her nest, and he knew it, and he didn't want her to see him as an intruder. She already killed him once… or close enough to it.<p>

"Well, I'm off to start the drilling sessions, you stay and rest some more, Darling." The Thunder Queen told him. Hiccup wasn't planning on leaving the cave much, only to eat and to harness more lightning if the weather permitted.

When the Thunder Queen left, Hiccup flew in the opposite direction to hunt for some fish, as he couldn't really show himself in the village without fear of getting attacked by the Thunder Queen's dragons.

Hiccup found a fair sized school of fish and dove in to catch some. He surfaced with about seven in his maw and returned to the cave to savor his breakfast. Once he was inside the cave, he set the fish on the floor and as he looked down at his catch, he noticed that he caught an eel. He wasn't surprised that he caught it, but he was surprised that he backed away from it in fright. What was that all about? Sure, he may not care for eating eels, but he was never scared of them to the point he would back away from them. In fact, he even liked a few eel dishes. So why did he back away from the eel?

_I won't fret about it right now; I'll just eat around it._ Hiccup thought to himself. He picked the eel out of the pile with his claws and enjoyed his breakfast without interruption from pesky Terrible Terrors.

By noon, another thunderstorm rolled in, and Hiccup took flight to harness the lightning. He also practiced some evasion maneuvers for the up-and-coming battle to drive the Berserkers out of his homeland; but the wind beneath his wings felt great, and the sheer joy of flying sent him soaring in every direction! He didn't have a care in the world, he was a dragon, and to feel the strike of lightning on him now was exhilarating! He felt energized, free, and proud!

* * *

><p>As the thunderstorm rolled in on Outcast Island on that afternoon, Astrid and Claudette had the dragons land so they could retreat into the Great hall. Stormfly joined them, but Whoshadow went straight back into the sky to take in the lightning. She planned on taking in as much as possible, and then discharge it all on Dagur!<p>

"I'm starting to worry about that Skrill." Claudette stated once they've entered the great hall.

"Hey, as long as she's not on an active rampage that could kill us all, then she's alright." Astrid replied.

The tables were set up and had platters of various meats, bowls of fresh spinach from the traders, and lots of bread in baskets. As the girls sat down, Tuffnut told them: "Helga got up before sunrise to make all of the bread. She says that if you don't have any, she'd mace ya."

"Knowing how well Helga bakes her bread, we'll be pigging out on that stuff more than the meat." Astrid replied, taking a toll out of the basket.

As they started eating, Claudette asked Astrid: "So, if you get into confrontation with Dagur, and Whoshadow is unable to kill him, what do you plan on doing to him?"

"I would hack off his limbs before he knew what hit him, and then feed his heart to Toothless, and have Whoshadow heat off his face. Even then, I still think that is too merciful for what he did to me." She replied.

"Remind me to stay on your good side. I fear to know what you had in mind to do to me after I cut off your foot." Claudette stated.

"Ah, I don't remember wanting to kill you. I think I would've done an eye-for-an-eye sort of deal." Astrid replied. Claudette gave Astrid a slight glare and sipped her mug of rum.

During this lunchtime, Alvin and Stoick were establishing a plan of attack to reclaim Berk. Toothless watched them and occasionally nodded his head approvingly at the plan. Gothi predicted that the cloud cover that they'd been having as of lately would linger for several days. They would use it to their advantage, and Dagur would never see them coming.

* * *

><p>With his flight over, and night drawing in, Hiccup chanced a walk though the forest, where he found Goosefoot and five other Berserkers in a clearing on the opposite side of the island from the village. The former Chief was standing right next to a Skrill, scratching the beast's chin, but that wasn't the only thing that amazed Hiccup, they were actively training these dragons right underneath Dagur's nose! Hiccup knew that the Berserkers didn't want to have anything to do with this war, but he didn't think that they would go as far as to risking execution and form a round robin against Dagur.<p>

"Alright, men and women, we've been training for a few nights now; plus the hours we've AWOL during the daytime. It is time to show what we've done!" Goosefoot told them. The round robin mounted the dragons with their makeshift saddles, and took flight with Goosefoot acting as their leader.

Hiccup eventually took off after them in order to observe their techniques better, and he was amazed to see how beautifully they flew in formation, practiced their aerial attacks, and performed defense maneuvers. He had to admit that he was proud for them to have figured out how to train their dragons without his active assistance.

"Great job, all of you, you would have done the Dragon Chief proud!" Goosefoot called out to them. Little did they know, was that the Dragon Chief had been watching them since a little bit before they took flight. Hiccup was so happy for them, he found that he was actually eager for battle.

* * *

><p>"Hooligans, and Outcasts, I have an announcement to make!" Stoick boomed. He got the attention from every dragon and soldier that would be fighting in the next battle, and he continued with: "I wish to announce that within two days, we will be ready to take arms and return to Berk, where the Hooligans will reclaim not only their rightful home, but the vengeance over the loss of Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III. In two days, we will make Dagur pay for his crimes, and we will celebrate our victory by dancing on his grave!"<p>

The Vikings cheered.

"So why two days? Because part of our plan requires our battleships, and when do we set sail? We set sail tonight!" Stoick shouted triumphantly, and rightfully so. The Vikings roared with cheers and they readied the ships.

Just before sundown, Stoick sent a Terrible Terror back to Berk with a message for Goosefoot.

* * *

><p>Just before Goosefoot retired for the night, he found a Terrible Terror with a message from him. It simply read:<p>

_Former Berserker Chief Goosefoot,_

_We will arrive within two days. Be prepared._

_Stoick the Vast._

So for the next couple days, Goosefoot would start more intensive training for his dragon riders; and as for Hiccup, he would be watching them, and he waited eagerly for his family to return.

* * *

><p><strong>Ok, I've had enough of this rising action BS! I want to write you an EPIC CLIMAX, and I'm going to start it up soon! So brace yourselves for the SHEER AWESOMENESS of the EPIC CLIMAX I have planed for you!<strong>


	20. Chapter 19: Strike

**Chapter Nineteen: Strike**

**HOLD ON TO YOUR HIND END!**

_I want vengeance, I need vengeance, and I will have vengeance._ Both Whoshadow and Astrid thought to themselves. As of right now, Astrid's heart was blacker than ink, and harder than stone. Now, Whoshadow's heart was blazing with fury, and her thirst for revenge had dried out her mouth.

Right now, every dragon and rider was on a ship, as they didn't want the beasts to tire their wings out before the battle even started. While a fair number could handle trekking the distance between Berk and Outcast Island, and maintain enough stamina to push through a fight, there were still enough who couldn't, so they were approaching Berk with ships with Aric in their tow.

As the dragons of Berk caught scent of their homeland they got themselves into battle mode, by hunching down with low growls rumbling in their chests. The noise became enough for Toothless to have to bark out their order to keep it quiet. Not only were the Vikings using ships to keep dragons from getting tired, but they were also using them to be stealthy. If Dagur had any expectations that they would return, then he would expect them to show up on dragons.

At one point they feared that a scout for the Thunder Queen had spotted them, as one of the Night Furies had passed over them; it hovered within their sights at a distance for a while and then flew away in a different direction.

_Maybe it was an incarnation of Loki and he's showing that he's on our side._ Astrid mused as she watched the Night Fury fly by. Once it was gone, she couldn't help but think that the Night Fury seemed to have an unusual coloration, and it seemed to hold a proud aura that was different than other dragons. It made her think that it being an incarnation of Loki wasn't all that absurd after all.

Now, Berk was in their sights, and Whoshadow was hunched low and was sending wild sparks all over her body. The Skrill had collected an absurd amount of lightning for this attack and it was a miracle that she could control it. In the meantime, Astrid prepared Whoshadow's saddle and hopped on her back, as Claudette did the same with Stormfly.

"Take care of yourself, Astrid." Claudette stated.

"You do the same." She replied.

They were close enough to send in the island to send in the Tidal class dragons. They were already in the water by now, but once they reached the cliffs of Berk, they began their attack! Once the dragons made it onto the land, the Thunder Queen's dragons began to defend their new territory.

"ATTACK!" Stoick roared to the fleet. He saddled up on Shadowrath and took flight with Valka at his side, and the remaining riders following behind them.

"It's time to exact our revenge, Whoshadow." Astrid stated. Whoshadow roared into the sky and took flight at a furious pace with Toothless and Sapphire at their sides. They all had one goal, to find the Thunder Queen, immobilize her, and terminate her rider.

Some of the dragons were dropping Hooligan soldiers onto the land where they would engage in a false fight with the Berserkers. Every one of them knew that the Hooligans were going to attack that day, except for Dagur. So while they were really fencing, they weren't going for the kill.

Now with strange dragons attacking the Island of Berk, the Thunder Queen started taking command over her dragons and ordering them to attack, and she herself searched for Dagur so he could fight to defend his nest.

"There's the Thunder Queen, she's by the smithy!" Valka announced. Cloudjumper, Shadowrath, Whoshadow, and Toothless dived for the smithy, taking their shots at the Thunder Queen, and driving her and Dagur to the sky!

Whoshadow sparked as she began her pursuit after the Thunder Queen. Astrid readied her axe as she urged the Skrill to go faster. She knew that the Black Typhoon could take in lightning and so letting Whoshadow fire at the Thunder Queen would be a mistake, because then the Thunder Queen would take in Whoshadow's lightning and fire it back at her. So Astrid signaled to Toothless and Sapphire to pull ahead and slow her down.

The Night Furies began firing at the Black Typhoon's wings where, which was causing her to lose balance in the air, but then Toothless turned his attention to her tail, and shot that. With one plasma blast he threw the Thunder Queen off course, and she was struggling to straighten herself out. Now it was time to collect Dagur, as Whoshadow was closing in, Astrid told her: "I'll let you have a crack at him, but first, allow me to hack off one of his limbs." Whoshadow sparked to release her frustration over Astrid's request, but she nodded her head. Her wings caught the air, and she was approaching Dagur with as much stealth she could muster. She was about thirty feet away from having Dagur in her claws, when the villain turned, saw them approaching, and the bloody lunatic jumped from the Thunder Queen, and ended up landing on the back of one of her Stormcutters, making his getaway!

"NO! SON OF A HALF-TROLL, SHIT-EATING…" Astrid snarled while Whoshadow was roaring her fumes.

Now, it was Shadowrath, Cloudjumper, and Grump pursuing after Dagur. All three riders were pursuing him in a rage, and were taking plenty of good shots at Dagur's Stormcutter, and some of them were close to knocking him off of the beast, but there were two problems: One, the Stormcutter had great maneuverability; two, Dagur was holding one of the best shields that the Berserker blacksmith had ever made.

Also, it won't help the Hooligans that Dagur had a Dragonstone on him. At least Dagur still didn't know of its powers. Even before he had the stones, he heard the voices of dragons inside his head. They weren't real, but they were there.

The Thunder Queen had escaped to barrage of attacks from Toothless and Sapphire, and she too, pursued after Dagur, but rather than trying to catch him, she was trying to make sure that the other dragon riders stayed the hell away from him. She soared past the would-be attackers, about-faced, and gave them a mighty wing blast! However, as she sent those dragons back one hundred meters, Astrid and Whoshadow flew past her, and were gaining on Dagur's Stormcutter at a speed where the Thunder Queen could not match. So with claws outstretched, Whoshadow and Astrid _finally_ collided into Dagur's dragon and sent them to the ground. Both riders were knocked off of their dragons.

"Oh foul, traitorous beast! You shall rue this day, for you have lent your back to the demonic bastard who has scarred me for life!" Whoshadow growled at the Stormcutter. Now, while those two were dueling, Astrid got up, locked eyes with Dagur, and attacked!

She swung her axe like a madwoman at Dagur, her eyes crazier than his; at the same time, Whoshadow was snapping furiously at the Stormcutter. Astrid eventually kicked the shield out of Dagur's hand, so now the only thing he had to defend himself was his sword, and it was pretty awkward when his opponent was wielding an axe. However, Dagur made the most of it. As Astrid took another swing at him, he did a ninja-style kick that knocked Astrid's axe from her grasp, and he picked it up before she could. As for Whoshadow, the Stormcutter she was fighting ended up biting into one of her wings, breaking one of the bones, and was blinded by the pain enough to keep her from helping Astrid.

"Well, well, well, it appears that I get to kill the 'Chief' Hiccup _and_ his whore." Dagur stated with the most disturbing sneer on his face. He planted the blade of his sword through Astrid's boot and false foot and into the ground, and readied her axe to decapitate her.

Just as everything looked bleak for Astrid and Whoshadow, the trademark high-pitched whistling of an approaching Night Fury sounded over them. They all looked up at it as it discharged a plasma blast at the Stormcutter that attacked Whoshadow, and sent the four-winged beast fifty feet back and knocked it unconscious. The sudden attack startled Dagur, and he involuntarily gave Astrid a cut on the arm that bled. Then the Night Fury came in for a landing, and separated Dagur from Astrid.

Snarling, the Night Fury made Dagur step back a few paces away from Astrid. The dragon chanced a glance at Astrid's arm and saw the blood from her cut, and returned focus onto Dagur. She took a closer look at the dragon, and not only noticed that it looked like a larger version of Midnightfire, but it held a proud aura that was different than the other dragons. This was her Loki incarnation!

As if to emphasize her point the Night Fury's form began to glow, and it assumed a human form. The resulting form was about six feet tall, donned in blue and black armor, with Loki's symbols embossed on it and they were painted silver. This figure also wore an identical mask that Hiccup wore, but it was dark blue and black.

"You leave her the hell alone!" The figure told Dagur in a snarl. Surely, this had to be Loki! No honorable Viking would wear his symbols, and speak with that much hatred in their voice. The figure looked back into Astrid's eyes, and pulled Dagur's sword out of her foot, as Midnightfire healed Whoshadow's wing.

"Fly!" The figure ordered Astrid. She looked into his blazing emerald green eyes that burned like acid. They were just as Astrid imagined Loki's eyes would look like. Now, was it her imagination, or did those eyes not seem human? No time for that right now, Whoshadow nudged her to get back on her back. They didn't take flight, as they were too curious to see how the upcoming events would turn out for Dagur.

The figure drew a sword of fire, there was no surprise for Astrid there; Loki was associated with fire as well as mischief, and as the father of dragons, it was a fitting weapon for him.

With a circular wave over head with the sword, a stream of fire flew off of it and formed a circle, surrounding him and Dagur. So Whoshadow and Astrid took flight to see what was going inside the ring of fire. So they watched them while circling around the ring.

The two figures inside the ring were meeting blades, but even at a distance, Astrid could see the acid green in Loki's eyes; and she could also see that Loki was simply trying to give Dagur a fair fight.

Soon enough, the Thunder Queen caught sight of Loki battling Dagur, she knew that Loki was the father of dragons, but she couldn't let Dagur be killed! So she dove for the ring, but there was no masking the thunderous sound of her wings. Loki looked up and saw her coming. He raised a hand above his head, summoned the flames of the ring, and threw them at the Thunder Queen's face! She reeled back with a roar of agony, and she turned away.

"You hurt my dragon! Now you shall _die!_" Dagur exclaimed. He delivered a punch to Loki's chin, which lifted the mask that was covering his face. Astrid couldn't see the god's face, but she could see Dagur's! There was no doubt that he had locked eyes with those eyes of burning acid. Dagur's eyes were wide, his mouth agape, and he was stepping away from the god.

"No! This can't be real! You can't be here!" Dagur exclaimed. Loki kicked him in the mouth, dislodging a couple of his teeth, and the blow knocked him to the ground. The whole false battle with the Berserkers was put to a pause, as they watched the god lower his mask once again, approach the fallen Dagur with his sword ready to finish him off… but there was one thing on Dagur he overlooked…

Dagur had a Dragonstone in his belt.

Just as Loki was ready to plant the blade of fire into Dagur's chest, the Dragonstone knew that it had to protect it's bearer, and created a flash of light that produced a shockwave, which sent Loki flying twenty feet. It dislodged the helmet-mask from his head, and he landed on his side, facing away from Astrid.

"Whoshadow, land by him! I need to see if he's alright." Astrid ordered.

Whoshadow did as she was told, and allowed Astrid to slide down her wing so she could check on Loki. She turned him onto his back, revealing his face to the first time to her; and what she saw gave her a complete shock! This wasn't a god at all!

She was at a loss for words. Of all times and places, _this _had to happen right here, right now! Her eyes were as wide as they could go, her hands were over her mouth, and she was speechless. _He_ kissed her quickly on the forehead.

"ASTRID, LOOK OUT!" Hiccup exclaimed.

She looked to the sky, and what she saw struck horror in her heart.

The Dragonstone turned Dagur into a blue Screaming Death.

"Oh, F***!" They said in unison.

**_TO BE CONTINUED…_**

* * *

><p><strong>Who saw <strong>**_that_**** coming?**


	21. Chapter 20: Lightning Strikes Twice

**Chapter Twenty: Lightning Strikes Twice**

**_BRACE YOURSELVES!_**

Just as the Screaming Death, Dagur, made his dive, Hiccup and Astrid rolled out of the way in time to avoid being devoured, but it still allowed Dagur to dive into the earth and start tunneling Hiccup and Astrid got back on their feet. Hiccup got his mask back on and told Astrid: "I need you and Whoshadow to go on and get Dagur out of the ground, and don't tell anyone that it's me, as I know that vengeance is a good motivator for war, and announcing that I'm alive will distract the people. It's great to see you again, Astrid."

"What will you be doing?" She asked.

"Toothless still has his saddle on him, right?"

"Yeah, we put it on him in case somebody needed a ride." Astrid replied.

"Great, once I find him, I'll be joining you." Hiccup told her, and he ran off.

No one, other than Astrid and Dagur, saw Hiccup's face. Like Astrid, they all thought that Hiccup was actually Loki. It was actually pretty convincing to not believe that the odd figure would be him rather than Hiccup because he was wearing a _pair_ of boots rather than one boot and a prosthetic. It turned out that the gods gave Hiccup a boot that could secure to his prosthetic, which made it look like a real foot enough to fool the Vikings.

Hiccup ran across the village, and found Toothless battling it out with one of the Black Typhoon's Timberjacks. He aided his faithful Night Fury by chasing the Timberjack away by producing an orb of fire and throwing it at the Timberjack's head, and Toothless pinned the beast to the ground, giving it a viscous bite to the tail before he left it.

Toothless locked eyes with Hiccup, of course he didn't recognize that it was Hiccup though; the eyes, left leg, uniform, and the fact that Hiccup was supposed to be dead were the reasons for that. Still, this man helped Toothless immobilize the Timberjack. So Toothless pressed his nose into his outstretched hand, and allowed the 'stranger' on his back. Together, they flew into Dagur's tunnels.

Like Toothless, Whoshadow could navigate the tunnels through echolocation, and she was gaining on Dagur. She discharged a shot of lightning once she had him in her sights, and she kept discharging small shots at the Screaming Death. Eventually, Dagur got the notion, and tunneled upwards and back into the air.

To Whoshadow's luck, another thunderstorm was rolling in, with plenty of lightning to be harnessed; to Berk's luck, the Berserkers finally decided to drop the fight on the ground and it was time for Goosefoot and his round robin to make good on their mutiny.

As the round robin called over their dragons, Goosefoot had already called over Vengeance and saddled up; and Vengeance took to the sky sparking and roaring as Goosefoot flew over to find Stoick and Alvin. He was just grateful that he found the two Chiefs, and Valka, taking shots at the Thunder Queen's face.

"Stoick! Alvin! Forget about that dragon, Dagur has been turned into a massive … I've never seen one of them before, but it reminds me of a Whispering Death!" Goosefoot called out. As he got their attention, they heard the roar of a Screaming Death sounding, and they took off to find it; but it was hard to miss a Screaming Death. Heck, by the time they reached it, Snotlout, the twins, Helga, Eret, Fishlegs, Astrid, and Claudette were already on the job; but there was something else that caught their attention. Toothless was among them, and he had a rider on his back donning armor that bore Loki's symbols!

"Is that really Loki?" Alvin asked.

"It sure looks like him." Valka replied.

Now they had joined the gang and began their attack. As they took their shots, the Thunder Queen began taking command over her dragons to protect Dagur. She gave them a furious blast of her wings, and scattered the attacking dragons all over the place!

In an effort to escape the attacking crew, Dagur dove, but the Skrills were at his tail! As he leveled off at the plaza, his tail struck a fruit stand full of pears, it sent the sweet fruit, and some of them struck Whoshadow, and one even went into her mouth and down her throat. Apparently, pears don't settle too well with Skrills like bananas do. Whoshadow's eyes went wide, she threw Astrid off of her back in order to pursue after the Screaming Death at a furious pace, she was sparking like crazy until her scales started glowing, her eyes turned red, and she was flying faster than any Skrill had ever flown before! She was now a living bolt of lightning!

'Loki' and Toothless swooped down, and collected Astrid, as she was placed on the saddle behind 'Loki', she told him: "Whoshadow's gone insane for vengeance."

"I don't blame her; Dagur just fed her a pear, and they taste almost as foul as eels to dragons, they just don't have any side effects." Toothless stated, although Astrid couldn't understand him.

The Thunder Queen eventually caught up to Dagur, and she fired a plasma blast at Whoshadow, knocking her to the ground.

Vengeance saw what happened to the beautiful Skrill and knew that it couldn't be tolerated. So he, his rider, and the round robin gathered; it was time for them to immobilize the Thunder Queen.

"Riders on Timberjacks, start tearing into that dragon's wings and tail, we need to ground her. Those of you on Monstrous Nightmares, I need you to get to the dragon's head and slow her down." Goosefoot called out.

So on they went, the Monstrous Nightmares fired into the Thunder Queen's face and the Timberjacks made enough tears in her wings so she could barely catch the air in them, and she crash landed in an abandoned cabbage field.

"Good work, Berserkers, now we help take care of Dagur!" Goosefoot declared, and his round robin turned and headed for the Screaming Death.

Said Screaming Death had just figured out how to breathe fire and to shoot his spines.

'Loki' had noticed that the extra weight of having two riders was actually hindering Toothless' maneuverability, and once he'd taken one of Dagur's spines to the leg, 'Loki' decided that someone had to jump.

_Loki told me that now I don't have to wait in order to change forms anymore. I'll have to make the jump._ Hiccup thought to himself. He forced Astrid's hands to let go of his waist, turned to look at her, gave her a wink, and he jumped! Toothless was about to dive after the rider, but he watched him as the rider spiraled into his descent as his Dragonstone's power kicked in, and shaped the rider into the blue Night Fury once again. Of course, Toothless didn't know that the rider had a Dragonstone on him.

_How did he do that? I _saw_ him turn from dragon to human already today. That trick shouldn't have worked for another three days._ Astrid thought.

Hiccup pulled higher into the air, locked eyes with Dagur, and fired a powerful lightning-charged plasma blast right at Dagur's face!The blast caused him to reel back in pain, and he emitted the trademark scream of the Screaming Death. The shriek was so loud and so intense, it shook up Hiccup's flight pattern, and it messed with his sights! It messed with the sights of all dragons flying around Dagur. However, Whoshadow seemed to have the ability to tune the scream out. She flew past Dagur's head, about-faced, and started shrieking: "VENGEANCE IS MINE! AND I HATE PEARS!"

The living bolt of lightning that was the crazed, vengeful, Skrill locked eyes with Dagur; and with exposed claws, Whoshadow dove in for Dagur's face, and sunk them into his flesh. With claws digging into Dagur's skin, she began tearing away Dagur's flesh with her teeth as well as those talons!

"Holy shit! I knew she wanted revenge, but who would've thought that Whoshadow would've gotten this gruesome?" Claudette told Astrid and Fishlegs.

"I hate to break it to you, but she's gone insane, she even threw me off." Astrid told her. Toothless fired at Dagur again.

"I saw we help her out. It is time to end Dagur!" Fishlegs declared.

"What grudge do you have against him?" Claudette asked.

"He made me eat rotten cod heads!" Fishlegs replied. Meatlug fired at the Screaming Death too.

Finally, the dragon riders, and Sapphire, went in to start mauling Dagur, but all they managed to inflict on him were scratches before Whoshadow ordered them to move away from Dagur. By now she had effectively torn away the top-left quarter of Dagur's face. Once the other dragons were clear, Whoshadow drew in a couple more bolts of lightning from the thunderstorm, and discharged the lightning into Dagur, and he screamed.

_Oh shut UP, Dagur!_ Hiccup thought. Then he heard Toothless roar out the orders to get ready… aim… FIRE! The dragons all fired at once at Dagur, and how this happened was anyone's guess, but there was one last shriek from Dagur, and the resulting blast turned him back into a human, but with a ripped-up face, and his Dragonstone had been dislodged from his belt, leaving it to be caught by Shadowrath and Stoick this time.

As Dagur tumbled downward, 'Loki' dove, caught him, set him on the ground, and assumed his human form again with his sword drawn. 'Loki' debated on killing him in the sky but thought that it would be fair to give him the chance to surrender. It was a similar thing to cats giving their prey a chance to escape.

The human Dagur locked eyes with 'Loki', and looked to flee; but the Thunder Queen had made her way to the part of the island where they landed, by hiking her way through the trees and the village to get there, and she blocked his route of escape telling him: "No, you must fight and prove your dominance or you forfeit your land!" She had no idea that 'Loki' was the true Alpha to this island. All she knew was that Dagur had given her this beautiful home for her nest and she didn't want them to lose it.

He was hesitant, but Dagur turned to face 'Loki' and the onlookers waiting eagerly to see what would happen in the duel to come. By now the dragon riders had landed, and Dagur felt a rage to find that his Berserkers weren't fighting. Now he focused on 'Loki', drew his sword, and attacked.

Their blades met and they began a furious fight, but there was one thing that Dagur didn't notice before, 'Loki' had grown taller and leaner over the years of his imprisonment. He had the upper hand in strength, but it wasn't by much.

"You're not even a Viking! You're a monster!" Dagur snarled, looking into Hiccup's burning acid eyes.

"Is that what you think? Look at yourself, Dagur, and look around you. There is only one monster on this island. It has no soul, thrives on putting _peaceful_ people in danger, and it kills magnificent beasts for pleasure. I'm no monster, Dagur, but you with a black soul, are a monster." Hiccup replied.

Still, with sheer rage and brute strength, Dagur managed to disarm 'Loki' and collect his weapon. 'Loki' was forced to retreat, but as he was running, he drew a small dagger from his belt, and he knew that he would have to end Dagur where he stood. He turned around to see Dagur pursuing after him, he held the dagger back, took aim at his chest, and threw the blade!

He missed Dagur's torso entirely. Rather than hitting Dagur in the chest, the blade hit him in a lower region, which severed his phallus and planted itself in his balls. Dagur wailed and screamed in utter agony, and collapsed to the ground. The crowd of Vikings around him cringed and gasped as a reflex for the stunt 'Loki' pulled on Dagur.

"Well… He had it coming, but that was the most barbaric trick I've ever seen." Gobber spoke to himself.

Suddenly, Astrid ran out to the dueling field with her axe raised and she was screaming a battle cry before she brought the axe down, and hacked off his left arm at the elbow.

"THAT WAS FOR HICCUP AND FOR CALLING ME A WHORE YOU GOOD-FOR-NOTHING M*****F*****!" Astrid hollered.

The battle was over now, and Dagur had lost. Now Stoick, Alvin, and Goosefoot approached him and stood with 'Loki' and Astrid standing beside Stoick. Now, Alvin pulled out a scroll and read Dagur his criminal charges:

"Dagur the Deranged has been found convicted of the following acts against both the Hooligan and Outcast tribes: violation of peace treaties, betraying alliances, the kidnapping of Chief Stoick the Vast, the attempted assassination of Alvin the Treacherous, escaping imprisonment, stealing an Outcast ship, treason, attempted murder of Astrid Haddock, and the assassination of Chief Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III. Stoick, as this is your island, you pronounce sentencing."

"I can't, Loki has power over me on this island. He shall pronounce sentencing." Stoick replied. The list of charges had alarmed the Thunder Queen. She gave him her trust, but it turned out that he was a monster who was abusing her powers.

Astrid had locked eyes with 'Loki' as Alvin was reading the charges, and 'Loki' knew that she wanted Dagur gone.

"He shall be executed, by dragons." Hiccup stated in an imitation of the voice of the real Loki through his mask. He made sure to reclaim his weapons right after saying that, and Dagur yelped after the dagger was torn out of him.

"Execution by dragons it is!" Alvin called out and the people, especially the Berserkers, cheered loudly.

Whoshadow, Cloudjumper, Hookfang, Barf and Belch, Skullcrusher, Shadowrath, Stormfly, and Toothless took to the skies with Dagur in Whoshadow's claws. The Skrill charged herself until her scales were glowing brighter than a Flightmare as she brought Dagur up high, and the other dragons formed a ring below her.

When Whoshadow noticed that the Chiefs, 'Loki', and Astrid had rejoined the crowd, and that the other dragons were powered up to deliver their strongest shots ever, she dropped Dagur when she was hovering above the center of the ring.

Dagur screamed all the way down until all dragons took their shots simultaneously, and the result was a spectacular explosion with amazing flames, sparkles, and millions of bits and pieces of Dagur the Deranged cascading ever so gracefully all over Berk. The Terrible Terrors gobbled some of these pieces up right away.

"Now that's what I call a finale!" Snotlout declared with Helga and the twins nodding in agreement. The Berserkers were applauding for the show.

"If only Hiccup could've seen that." Eret stated.

"Loki." Stoick spoke. 'Loki' stepped a couple paces forward and turned around to face Stoick, taking note that Toothless was standing between his parents now with Midnightfire perched on his back.

"Loki, I know that we don't do much in the way of praising you, but we thank you for the help that you've given us." Stoick stated.

'Loki' quickly removed his flight mask as he asked: "Who are you calling _'Loki'_, Dad?"

Stoick and Valka only had a fraction of a second to see their son's face before the black mass that was known as Toothless tackled Hiccup to the ground and began nuzzling him like crazy.

"HICCUP!" His family exclaimed joyously. Toothless nuzzled him again before letting him up. Stoick took his hand and got him up to his feet, but Valka embraced Hiccup before he could. When she pulled away, Valka had tears of joy rolling down her face as she looked upon the son she thought she'd lost with a smile; but then she noticed something different about him.

"Hiccup, your eyes!" She exclaimed.

"_My eyes,_ what about them?" He asked with genuine confusion. He glanced over to Astrid, who'd pulled out a pocket mirror she kept on her person, and handed it to Hiccup; now, she, Gobber, Stoick, and their friends had noticed it too.

"SON OF LOKI!" Hiccup exclaimed. In the mirror, he saw that his vivid green eyes were now the eyes of a Night Fury with a little bit of the whites remaining, they were bright green but several shades darker than Toothless'. When he looked into the mirror he also saw his pupils narrow into slits. He looked back up to Astrid with his cheeks turning slightly red.

"There's no need to be embarrassed, Hiccup, they're rather pretty eyes, and they are fitting for the Dragon Chief." Astrid told him.

"MY SON IS BACK, THE ENEMY IS DEFEATED, SO NOW IT IS TIME FOR US TO CELEBRATE!" Stoick boomed, and he was about ready to jump for joy. The Vikings and dragons cheered, and then Stoick turned around to hug Hiccup.

Gobber was next to embrace Hiccup, telling him: "Don't you ever do that to us again! I missed you, lad."

"It's good to be back, Gobber." He replied.

"Everyone, to the Great Hall!" Stoick declared. With uproarious cheers, the Vikings cleared out of the battlefield, but not without raiding their food supplies first. If they were going to celebrate, then they must have the proper food and drink.

* * *

><p><strong>Well I hoped that satisfied you bloodthirsty savages!<strong>

**Special Thanks to:**

**Rouge Deity Master: For suggesting the part where Hiccup and Dagur were calling each other monsters.**

**Mikowmer: For suggesting this chapter's duel. I hope you enjoyed it.**


	22. Chapter 21: Celebration

**Chapter Twenty-One: Celebration**

**So, Charm Caster 1127, have you been reading Shadowdragon1317's rants about the pears, do you hate them yourself, or is it a combination of the two?**

**Warning: Mildly sexual content to follow**

While the Vikings were heading over to the Great Hall, Hiccup caught sight of the Thunder Queen. She looked upset, but Hiccup couldn't blame her, Dagur had meant something to her for a while, and now he was gone. Granted, she knew what a horrible Alpha he was, but to have to go through all of that bloodshed at the cost of her wings and tail, it was easy for a dragon to get emotional. So, with Toothless at his side he approached the Black Typhoon.

"Hey, Thunder Queen, you look like you could use some compassion." Hiccup told her. The massive Strike class dragon looked up at him and snarled.

"What do you want?"

"Hey there's no need to get aggressive here, I just want to help. I can heal your wings and tail for you."

"Why would you want to do that?"

"I know you're a good dragon, you were just tamed by a bad person. So, I hope to help you feel better, and I figured that they best way to go with that is to help heal you. Now, can I be your friend and heal your wings and tail?" Hiccup said.

The Thunder Queen looked over to Toothless and asked him: "How long have you put your trust in this human, Shadeghost?"

"He's been my best friend and rider for over six years. He is a friend to every dragon who lived on this island before Dagur came along. If you can't trust him, then no human is trustworthy." Toothless replied.

The Thunder Queen looked over to Hiccup again and noticed his eyes and asked him: "How did you get those eyes?"

"I think that they were an endowment from Loki." He replied. The Thunder Queen smiled with her eyes and extended a wing for him to fix. Hiccup simply brushed his hand over the tears, and they were mended.

"Thank you." The Thunder Queen told him as she tested her wings by stretching them.

"You're welcome, and I must say that you really are a magnificent dragon." Hiccup replied. Toothless crooned in agreement.

"You fascinate me, human, I've never met a Viking who had such a true love for dragons… Or a human with the eyes of a dragon."

"Ha, Hiccup is anything but a traditional Viking. He was the first one to befriend a dragon, and as long as you don't actively try to destroy his home or attack his people, he will welcome you with open arms." Toothless explained.

"I don't have much of an explanation for the eyes, but I do think that they were a gift from Loki." Hiccup stated.

"How fascinating, and it is good to see how you turned out Shadeghost. Now, from what I've heard through other dragons, you are the Alpha of this island; so I ask you: What are we supposed to do now?" The Thunder Queen said.

"You told me that your original home was destroyed due to a volcanic eruption. This was back when you crawled into a cave during a thunderstorm and you spoke to me while I was a Night Fury. Now, I want you and Too-_Shadeghost _to remain peaceful, and we can find another island that may be more to your liking; but until we are able to show you off the island, I'll allow you to stay here as long as you and your nest acknowledges that Shadeghost is the Alpha of Berk." Hiccup replied.

"We can handle that." The Thunder Queen replied.

"Good to hear, now we better be going now. The tribes are waiting for us to join the celebration." Hiccup told her. She closed her eyes and bowed her head to him. He smiled as he turned away and headed for the Great hall with Toothless following after him.

The second Hiccup stepped inside, mugs were raised, and he was surrounded by the sound of booming cheers for him. Who wouldn't have? The Dragon Chief was back, their enemy thoroughly destroyed, and good food and drinks were going around.

Once Hiccup had reached the center of the hall, he was promptly mobbed by Astrid and their friends be being embraced by the group.

"I take it that I was missed." Hiccup stated.

"That's the understatement of the year! Your mother lost her voice for a little bit after we left for Outcast Island, Toothless' heart was actually broken, and the whole village was in tears, your father included." Astrid told him.

"Stoick the Vast actually cried…? Nope, sorry, I can't picture it. How about you guys, how did you fare?" He replied.

"Well, that first day after we fled was mostly a day to mourn, but we eventually got into a routine, the dragons pushed Toothless to move on, and soon enough we came back to Berk." Astrid replied. By now the group had given Hiccup some space, and once he started making his way to the head table where he was greeted by Alvin and Goosefoot.

"It's good to have you back, Chief Hiccup." Alvin stated. The one-eyed Chief clapped a hand on his shoulder.

"Aye, it is a relief that we didn't lose you in the war after all; and on be hath of the Berserker tribe, we apologize for taking a part in this war and not trying to fight Dagur off before this fight started." Goosefoot stated.

"Hey, I understand why you didn't fight; resistance would've been futile in that situation. However, I'll admit that I actually had the time to watch you and your round robin train dragons in order turn against Dagur. Now, had you been caught, Dagur would no doubt have killed you and the round robin for your treasonous acts. For that, I thank you for your help; you what, how about we form an alliance and a peace treaty between our three tribes?" Hiccup suggested. Goosefoot's eyes went wide and sparkled with delight. Forming alliances was one of the things he wanted to do for the Berserkers, but there were few tribes willing to ally themselves with the Berserker tribe after Dagur became Chief.

"Thank _you_, Chief Hiccup. I promise that you'll know the gratitude of the Berserker tribe once we establish this alliance and peace treaty!" Goosefoot exclaimed. He couldn't hold it in anymore, he pulled Hiccup in for a hug, and once Alvin agreed to take part in this treaty and alliance, Goosefoot hugged him too.

"Wow, quite the emotional fellow that one." Alvin spoke once Goosefoot started going around to tell his tribe the wonderful news.

"There's nothing wrong with that." Hiccup replied.

"That's true… So, what are they going to do about their dragons? Would you prefer them to go with their queen, or will the Berserkers take the bonded ones with them?" Alvin asked.

"It's a good question. Dagur probably did some damage to their economy, and it would be hard for them to mend that when they also have to take care of dragons too. They'll want saddles for them eventually, and to build accommodations for them, and they cost money and resources. Then again they can also use them for hunting purposes, and I can show them how we use dragons to pillage. What would you do, Alvin?"

"I'd allow them to have one dragon, and keep their remaining tamed beasts until they're ready to have them."

"That's a pretty good idea. I'll have to tell Goosefoot that." Hiccup stated.

The Dragon Chief continued making his way around the hall to receive the 'I'm so glad that you're alive' and 'Welcome back's' from his tribe; and at one point Hiccup caught sight of Vengeance making a few moves towards Whoshadow while Claudette were chatting. Now that Whoshadow had exacted her revenge on Dagur, she had mellowed out significantly. Instead of a glimmer of insanity, the light in her eyes showed happiness and interest in the male Skrill. Vengeance was smaller than Whoshadow, but he was still powerful, muscular, and Goosefoot told Claudette that he is an intelligent dragon.

"Well, from the way they're looking at each other, he may have to stick around for a while. The mating season isn't that long of a wait from now." Claudette told him.

"Skrill hatchlings, I'll bet they'll be cute." He replied.

_They'll be a handful for the village too._ Hiccup thought. He picked up a few snacks while he was going around the hall and had a mug of rum to wash it down. All in all, it was a great party.

* * *

><p>At the end of the day, Goosefoot escorted Hiccup and Astrid back to their home with their dragons at their sides; Toothless was so happy to have Hiccup back, he kept leaning into Hiccup's side just to be close to him.<p>

"I made sure that Dagur didn't get a hold of this place while you were gone. I figured that he would've brought disgrace to this place if he did. I kept up with the housekeeping and founded our round robin in here."

"Thanks, Chief Goosefoot." Astrid stated as she gave Vengeance a scratch on his neck.

"You're welcome, Astrid. So, Chief Hiccup, what are you going to do about Dagur's big dragon, and the dragons we've bonded with?"

"She'll stay here for a little while, but we'll eventually relocate her and her nest to another island. As for the dragons your round robin bonded with and trained, Alvin and I agreed that it would be good for your tribe to keep the beasts, but first you must stabilize your economy and set up accommodations for the dragons. We'll keep them here, but we'll have you pick one dragon to help you out. Dragons are good for making distractions when you go pillaging, makes it quick, easy, and the people you pillage from will never know what hit them. We also use the dragons for fishing and hunting too."

"You've been so kind to us, and I can't thank you enough. I'll look forward to signing this peace treaty with you and Alvin." Goosefoot replied. He tipped his head to the Haddocks and took his leave with Vengeance. As they were leaving, Stormfly started up a fire and curled up by it, while Toothless and his family decided to go out for a family flight.

Now, Hiccup and Astrid were upstairs in their bedroom. Their daughter would be brought home with the other children the next day so they wouldn't have to worry about caring for her in the middle of the night.

"So, what should we do now?" Hiccup asked in a suave tone. Astrid giggled giddily, approached him, and after a moment of kissing they began to undress each other; but as Astrid removed Hiccup's top, her eyes fell on something she never saw on Hiccup before. At first look it appeared to be a blue-black tattoo of a dragon silhouette on his left pectoral; but upon closer look, the truth was clear, the silhouette was made of tiny Night Fury scales.

At first, Hiccup thought Astrid was being romantic by caressing his lean torso with her eyes, but when Astrid brushed her fingers over the scales he looked down and saw the mark, his pupils narrowing into slits. His shock over having another draconic feature started to make him breathe heavily.

"Hiccup, it's okay. As weird as it may sound: human or dragon, I will still love you." Astrid told him, and then she planted a kiss on his lips. Such a tender and loving gesture took the shock away, and Hiccup returned the favor. However, at the back of his mind, he knew that if he checked his shoulder armor, he would not find a Dragonstone hidden behind a secret panel. Now, the Dragonstone's power lived inside him. It was his gift from Loki, and it was a part of the blessing he put on the stone. Knowing this still left a bit of a shock for Hiccup, but as he removed his prosthetic, and flopped onto the bed in Astrid's embrace, he refused to dwell on it. Tonight was a night of celebration and passion.

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><p><strong>Ahh, sweet resolutions, but I promise at least one more chapter.<strong>

**Special Thanks to: Rogue Deity Master, who suggested that I put the Dragonstone 'inside' Hiccup. **


	23. Chapter 22: Son of Loki

**Chapter Twenty-Two: Son of Loki**

Hiccup would soon learn that when given gifts from the Trickster God of Mischief, they often come with a price.

When he got up that morning, he only put on his skivvies, trousers, and prosthetic before heading over to the mirror. He still wasn't adjusted to the fact that when people looked at him, they would see a pair of dragon eyes, but right now, his attention was directed over to the patch of scales. The dragon silhouette matched the one in Toothless' first Dragonstone perfectly, and to the touch they were cool and smooth, and in the right light they shimmered like obsidian.

"Hiccup?" Astrid spoke. He didn't turn, he just looked up to her reflection in the mirror as she got up and fitted her false foot on. She then proceeded to wrap a sheet around her to act as a dress until she was ready to prepare herself for the day.

"Hiccup, you're healthy, and you're alive. You don't have to fret over dragon scales and eyes, after all, Anora has the same traits, and now she has someone to look up to." Astrid stated.

"Anora… I can hardly wait to see her again."

"She'll be here later today. Now, go and put a shirt on. I believe that you have a peace treaty and an alliance to write up and sign today." Astrid told Hiccup. He turned, kissed her, and finished getting ready for the day.

After he and Astrid ate a breakfast of eggs and potatoes, they headed outside. The cool air greeted them in a nice, gentle breeze, and since they were out fairly early they decided to take the dragons out for a flight; but once Hiccup saddled up on Toothless, Astrid told him: "You better brace yourself, when the dragons were trying to encourage him to move on after losing you, he may've broken some serious speed records."

"Hey, I'm ready for anything Toothless throws at me!" He replied.

"If that is the case…" Toothless started. He tossed up his wings and then took off in that near-vertical steep, and going up 1000 feet. Hiccup was about ready to scream. Not only was Toothless climbing at such a steep angle, he was ascending at an alarming speed. When they peaked at the 1000 foot mart, Toothless maneuvered into dive-bomb position, and that was where the real flight began. After Toothless pulled up from the dive-bomb maneuver, at terminal velocity, he caused a wake of ocean spray at about six feet.

With Stormfly pursuing after them now, the two dragons went into a speeding flight fueled by sheer joy of having Hiccup back, and for just being able to fly together again. As for the speed records, Toothless definitely broke a few.

* * *

><p>At about 9:30 that morning, Hiccup sent Ruffnut, Eret, Fishlegs, and Claudette to scout for a new home for the Thunder Queen and her nest. Of course, the Thunder Queen had to join them herself; after all it was going to be her home, and the home of her nest.<p>

As much as Hiccup would've liked to have joined them, he had to stick around Berk, as the ships from Outcast Island were expected to arrive soon, and once the children and non-soldiers of Berk returned, it would be time to sign the peace treaty and form the alliance with the Berserkers.

* * *

><p>By 11:00, the ships with the Berkians had arrived. The children were eager to hear the stories about what happened to Dagur, and they were shocked to see that the Dragon Chief was really alive and well. Even Gothi was about to jump for joy after seeing him, but she was the one carrying his baby.<p>

Hiccup got down to one knee in order to retrieve Anora from Gothi's arms; he received a confused look from her when she noticed that his eyes had changed. She didn't exactly question about them, but she did ask if anything else had changed on him. Hiccup told her that he had a patch of scales now that looked like a tattoo, but said nothing else about it. Right now he just wanted to hold his daughter again.

It may've been the time they spent apart, but when Hiccup looked into Anora's draconic eyes, he would swear that he had never seen a creature more beautiful than Anora. He would say that Astrid and the Night Fury family would be a close second, but right now he was looking at his daughter as if he were seeing her for the first time.

"Hiccup, I believe you have a treaty to sign." Astrid told him.

"Right…" He spoke. Rather than handing the child off to Astrid, as he would've been expected to do, he carried Anora all the way to the Great Hall, and refused to hand the baby over until he was about twenty feet away from the table where the newly written treaty was waiting.

The signing was an intense moment for Goosefoot, he knew the outcome, but to finally get something he'd been yearning to do for his tribe, it would give him the greatest sense of satisfaction, probably more satisfying than _good_ intercourse for him.

Goosefoot wrote down the final signature, and then he raised the treaty above his head declaring: "My fellow Berserkers, we have peace and allies!" His tribe cheered.

Now that was over, Hiccup relieved Astrid of holding Anora, taking her in his arms.

"Hiccup, you know you can still hold her after today." Astrid told him.

"Hey, I missed her, and you, while I was waiting for the final battle with Dagur. Come on, just let me have her for today." He replied.

"Alright, but right now she's probably getting hungry." Astrid stated as she noticed that Anora was beginning to fuss. Hiccup nodded to Astrid and took his leave for their house.

When Hiccup stepped inside, he glanced over to Midnightfire and told her: "Anora is back."

The Night Fury hatchling abandoned the piled of fish Sapphire had brought for her, and perched on Hiccup's shoulder in order to see the baby again.

"Isn't it great to see her again, Uncle Hiccup?" She asked.

"As her father, who hadn't seen her for days, I'm going to say 'yes'." Hiccup replied.

"It's weird, once you make a bond with a dragon or a human, it sticks to you. Even when I thought we lost you, Uncle Hiccup, I cried for you too; but to know that you have this connection with a creature that's not even your species, it just runs deep." Midnightfire stated.

"You keep thinking like that you'll turn into a dragon philosopher." Hiccup told her. Anora continued to fuss, so he set her down on the guest cot before making her special mixture of yak milk and fish blood. While Hiccup was busy feeding Anora, Midnightfire returned to her pile of fish.

Looking off to a corner of the room, Hiccup noticed that Sapphire was grooming herself while making sure that the hatchling wouldn't start causing trouble again.

"So, what's Toothless up to?" Hiccup asked her.

"Right now he's visiting his parents and giving them the grand tour of the island. Depending on how close the Thunder Queen's new home is, they're considering on staying on Berk. I kinda hope that Lady Anora and Zephyr do; they will provide my father more Night Furies to talk to, and I could always use another set of eyes to watch over Midnightfire." Sapphire replied.

"Yeah, no offense, but she is a real child of Loki."

"No offense taken, she is one to cause mischief." Sapphire chuckled. Hiccup looked over to Midnightfire to find her wearing a cheeky grin.

Now that Anora had finished her bottle, the baby soon fell to sleep, but rather then going upstairs to simply put Anora in the cradle, he decided to nap with her on his bed.

* * *

><p>"Hiccup… Hiccup, it's time to wake up!" Ruffnut said. He still refused to wake up, so she struck him across the cheek. Hiccup woke with a start, his pupils were slits, and he pulled out a dagger and pressed it against Ruffnut's throat. It was a habit that Stoick trained him into doing as a form of self-defense in the days after the battle with the Red Death, but before the events of Drago Bludvist.<p>

"Whoa, Hiccup, put the dagger down!" Eret exclaimed.

Hiccup collected his senses and lowered the dagger.

"Sorry about that, Ruff." Hiccup spoke. He sheathed the blade and asked her and Eret: "So did you guys find a place where the Thunder Queen to stay?"

"It took a few hours, but yes we found one not far from the island where you and Fishlegs found the Night Fury natural habitat. In fact it's actually closer to Berk than that island." Eret replied.

"That's good to hear, I wonder if that means Toothless' parents will be staying here or not." Hiccup replied.

"I saw two Night Furies walking around with Toothless, and they weren't Shadowrath or Sapphire." Ruffnut stated.

"Is the Thunder Queen's nest still here?" Hiccup asked.

"Yes, the Black Typhoon needs to rest her wings now." Eret replied.

"I see, well it shouldn't be too long before they leave then. Have the Berserkers left?"

"Yeah, they're gone, congratulations on the treaty, Chief." Ruff replied. Hiccup tipped his head to her and dismissed the couple, chances were that Anora would need to be changed right then. She was working up the tears to tell him so. He was grateful that the smelly task was over and dons with quickly.

Now that Anora was freshly changed and rested, Hiccup decided that it was time to track Astrid down; chances were that she was filling in for him while he was at the house.

He found Toothless first. The Night Fury had just finished giving his parents the grand tour of Berk. Hiccup told them about the island that the Thunder Queen selected to be her new home, which led Lady Anora and Zephyr to make their decision. They will remain living with the Thunder Queen, but they would visit Berk often.

It was there where Astrid found Hiccup, and she relieved him of the baby. Hiccup was a bit hesitant to give Anora up, but he let go anyway. The moment after Astrid took the baby off of Hiccup, she sent him off to check on the Berserker's dragons. They were locked in the arena where Valka taught her classes, and Hiccup noted that they were lacking in one Timberjack, and Vengeance was still hanging around Whoshadow in hopes to make her his mate.

"Hey human, I'm getting pretty hungry in here!" One of the Monstrous Nightmares called out to Hiccup. So, to help the dragons make their stay more comfortable, Hiccup ran off to get some fish for all dragons. He came back with Fishlegs, Snotlout, and Tuffnut; each man was pushing a large wheelbarrow full of Fish and they picked one dragon to feed them to. Now with their hunger satisfied, the dragons felt more comfortable.

Not long after the feeding, Hiccup had just left the arena when he heard the Thunder Queen let out a bellowing roar that could be heard all over the island. It was her call to bring her nest to her, but the only ones who didn't respond were the caged dragons and Vengeance.

The Thunder Queen took flight, and her nest mimicked her. The Black Typhoon, and Toothless' parents roared a 'farewell' before turning and venturing off to their new home. To Hiccup, the sight was as beautiful as seeing Berk's dragons making the return trip from their mating migration. Hiccup felt a sense of relief to see the Thunder Queen take her leave, but he hoped that this wouldn't be the last he'd see of her. She was a truly remarkable dragon, and her devotion to her nest reminded Hiccup of Aric when he was Alpha. He watched the dragons fly until they were out of sight. After that, he smiled and turned to head home again. By now the sun was setting, and it had been a fairly busy day for Hiccup, the flight, returning ships, the treaty signing, taking care of Anora, and so on. He took a look at the sun and noticed that it was starting to get low. It was a beautiful sunset, and Toothless would want to take Hiccup for a lap around the island. With his mind preoccupied by knowing that, he was unaware that the scales were beginning to irritate him.

"Toothless, are you ready to take the lap around the island?" Hiccup called out. Within a second (maybe a bit longer) Toothless was standing right in front of him, ready to take off.

Unlike the morning's flight, this one was more tranquil and smooth. This was a time to just savor being in the air, and sometimes they would share this flight with Stormfly and Astrid; but for this evening, the flight was just for Hiccup and Toothless.

* * *

><p>After landing, the sun had just about set, and it was the first time Hiccup noticed that his scales were irritating him. He shrugged it off and preceded to make his way to his house where he was welcomed by the scent of a nice, hearty, yak tenderloin roasting over the fire, with a tasty glaze Astrid made.<p>

"Heh, Astrid is spoiling me tonight, I wonder what's on her mind." Hiccup thought out loud.

Astrid opened the door, she was wearing a nightdress and she stood her arms crossed. Hiccup picked up his pace, but once he stepped into the threshold, the sun had fully set, and suddenly the scales went from a mild irritation to a feeling of having large bugs crawling all over his chest! Hiccup's pupils went from humanoid-round and into slits, his jaw clenched, and he grimaced.

"Hiccup, what's wrong?" Astrid asked. She stepped over to him, but he backed away, and supported himself against an exterior wall of the house. Astrid could see that he was in some sort of pain, as he was clutching himself where it pained him the most, when he suddenly collapsed. Astrid was frightened for him, and she tried to help him onto his feet, but then she noticed that the freckles on his face had turned into dark scales.

"What… the hell… is... happening… to me?" Hiccup panted. Even Toothless looked between Hiccup and Astrid with worry.

"From the looks of it, you're turning into a dragon; you've got scales covering your skin." Astrid replied; the statement made Toothless exhale in relief. In realizing her observation, Astrid pulled off Hiccup's prosthetic and took off as much of his flight suit before he would outgrow it and tear it to pieces. She managed to strip him of everything but his trousers before they tore to shreds.

His metamorphosis took five minutes before he was finished. He became the same Night Fury that fooled Astrid into thinking that he was an incarnation of Loki. Astrid took notice that his left leg grew back during the change. She took it as a good thing, because Hiccup looked like his head was spinning.

"Come on, let's go inside. You can curl up by the fire, and you can still have some of that tenderloin I cooked up." Astrid told him. She led him inside while he was leaning on Toothless for support, and she had him lay down by the fire while she cut up the tenderloin.

"How did this even happen? You didn't do this to yourself, I know that much, so why are you a dragon, Hiccup?" Astrid asked. Hiccup moved his wings as a draconic way to shrug his shoulders. Even Toothless shared their confusion.

"You know what, I'll bet Loki had something to do with this! The nerve of that god! Why would he do this to you?" Astrid said. She set a plate of sliced meat before Hiccup and left him to eat while she fixed a plate for herself.

"I know you are the Dragon Chief, but Loki didn't have to take it to a more literal level. Well, as I've said before, Hiccup: whether human or dragon, I will still love you… How's your dinner?"

Hiccup's ears perked up and made a sound to tell her that it was delicious.

"That's good to hear, even though in this body, you'd probably favor fish." Astrid replied. A sound came from Hiccup, but Astrid was slightly confused with the reaction and asked: "Were you agreeing with me?"

Hiccup made a sound that was identical to a human voice saying 'no', which meant that he preferred the steak over the fish… at least for tonight. Who would've thought it, dragons like a good snack of Yak, perhaps they would introduce their meat into their diet and see if it affects tem like chicken.

After Astrid finished her meal, she cleared away the plates and set them in the washtub to be cleaned later.

"How're you feeling, Hiccup?" She asked. He chuffed; he looked like any other happy and healthy dragon at the moment. He was still simply confused as to how this happened to him. Astrid bent down and kissed him at the top of his head, which made him emit a purring sound.

A few seconds later, there was a knock on their door.

"Who would come over here at this hour? I'm in a nightdress!" Astrid said. She heaved a sigh and opened the door. To her shock, Loki was standing on the other side. Astrid was at a loss for words, so she simply stepped aside from the door to allow the god inside.

"It's a lovely evening, isn't it?" He asked as he made himself comfortable by sitting down on a wooden chair.

"Is there something we can do for you?" Astrid asked.

"Well, for starters, I wish to give you this, Astrid." Loki replied, and then he produced a necklace chain with what appeared to be a tiny Dragonstone set in the pendant. Astrid was hesitant to accept it, but when she took it from Loki's hand, he told her: "That is a Dragonstone set inside it, but the only power it has is to allow you to understand the dragons when they speak. Now, I am sure that you and Hiccup have questions to ask. So, I am here to answer them."

Astrid put on the necklace as Hiccup asked: "Well, the first question that comes to my mind is: why am I a dragon right now?"

"When the Dragonstone revived you, and you went for that laborious task of climbing out of that crack, I noticed that you had the soul of a dragon. In knowing this I knew that you really should've been born as a dragon… Hmm, if memory proves, Frigg had a bit more than her fair share of mead the night you were conceived. Oh well... I fixed her error as much as I could in a fashion that you would've approved of."

"I would've preferred assuming this body on my own will."

"Well, part of that is the price that you pay when you're given one of my special gifts. When we blessed your stone: Odin gave you a boost of strength and endurance, Thor gave you the lightning, and…"

"_Lightning,_ but he's a Night Fury, not a Skrill." Astrid interjected.

"It is rude to interrupt a god while he is speaking." Loki snapped.

"And actually, Astrid, in this body, I'm an unnamed subspecies of Night Fury, and so is Midnightfire. One of the few known differences about them is that they can take in the lightning, like a Skrill, and use it to charge their plasma blasts." Hiccup stated. He looked over to the Night Fury family and found the parents looking at their hatchling in awe.

"As I was saying: I gave Hiccup's dragon soul it's wings and fire, with an added touch of mischief. After we blessed the stone, and Hiccup placed it back in his armor, I gave it a little tap to change him. Had I not, he would've done it himself or he'd be stuck on that glacier; but during his change, his Dragonstone disappeared, and it's powers now live inside him. Now that his soul has wings and can breathe fire, it will need to fly, hunt, and other things dragons do; but it can't do all of that in a human body. So, about four days a month, after sunset, if Hiccup doesn't change of his own, then the night and his soul will make the change for him… but don't you worry, Hiccup, once the sun rises, you'll be able to change back whenever you feel like it." Loki told them.

"What if I'm away from Berk on some sort of serious political trip? I may find the time to change, but I'd prefer to keep this a secret from tribes who aren't my allies, and I wouldn't want to go out into a forest to change only to have some hunter spot me and then think that I'm some sort of were-dragon." Hiccup said.

"If your scales tell you that it is one of your dragon nights, like they tonight when they started to irritate you, you can transfer the power over to one of your people and have them become their inner dragon. It would help if they were willing, but I suppose you could use it as part of a punishment for a crime. Now, unlike you, they would need something to change them back. It could be any other Dragonstone made by Toothless or his bloodline, or it can be you yourself. That latter will be preferred as your power doesn't have to take three days to recharge." Loki replied.

"Ha, I wonder what Snotlout's inner dragon is." Astrid mused.

"With that boy's vanity, he's a blue and pink Deadly Nadder for sure." Loki stated. His response made Astrid double over into a fit of laughter. Snotlout would be so sure that his inner dragon would be along the lines of a Monstrous Nightmare or a Thunderdrum, and he looked at Deadly Nadders as a 'girly' dragon.

"Well, Loki, thanks for your time, but I have all the answers I want right now." Hiccup spoke.

"I'll come around if you need me." He replied as he stood up. He put his hand to Hiccup's snout and told him: "Welcome to the family, my son."

Loki was about to leave when his attention turned over to Midnightfire.

"Hello, little one, come on over here and let me take a look at you." Loki told her. He held out his arm, allowing her to make it into her perch.

"You are so beautiful, Midnightfire… and I know you, you take after me quite nicely with your mischievous acts. I am so proud to know that you're one of my children." He spoke as he brushed his free hand over her scales. The hatchling purred to him as he set her on the ground. He watched her return to her parents and took his leave.

"Well, Hiccup, it appears that you can fly whenever you want now. Now I feel like I will no longer be of as much use to you." Toothless stated.

"How could you think that? You're the brother I've always wanted, and my best friend! For that I will never stop needing you. Let me tell you something, the first word I said when I climbed out of that crack was your name."

"Hey!" Astrid snapped.

"Sorry, Astrid… The love of my life." Hiccup replied.

"You told me what I wanted to hear anyway… and thanks for being so honest about it." Toothless told him. He smiled to Toothless before Astrid asked him to follow her upstairs. She took the covers and pillows off the bed and threw them on the floor. She took Anora in her arms and laid down on the fluffy pile of blankets and pillows, and Hiccup curled around them.

It was a perfect ending to a day in the life of the Dragon Chief.

* * *

><p><strong>Epilogue and AN to follow. <strong>

**So, what did you guys think? And which Dragonstone story did you like best?**


	24. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

As time went by, Hiccup had grown fairly used to his Dragon Nights, as he called them. He was brave enough to let the people know that this was a new condition for him right now, but he wouldn't deny that explaining what Loki had told him made him blush. To say that you have the soul of a dragon that demands to have its flesh-and-bone wings is a bit awkward.

Very few people found it surprising that his title as the Dragon Chief had been taken to a more literal level. In fact the most comical reaction came from Snotlout, he was already jealous of his cousin for being the Chief, when during his childhood he'd been led into believing _he_ would be Chief; but now his cousin was basically half _dragon! _He was seething with jealousy.

* * *

><p>During the passing days, they were frequently visited by the Berserkers, who would bring goods and gifts to Berk as a token of their gratitude. Goosefoot promised Hiccup that he would know how grateful the Berserkers were for all that he did for them.<p>

Oftentimes with the ships, came Vengeance. The male Skrill would usually ignore the villagers, with the exception of Claudette, because where there was Claudette, them that meant that Whoshadow was nearby. After Whoshadow had finally gotten her revenge of Dagur, she had mellowed out quite a bit, and became quite affectionate towards Vengeance.

When the Berserkers were ready to have their dragons back, Whoshadow was upset to see Vengeance leave; and so these visits were always treasured between the two Skrills. They eventually mated and had three hatchlings, and two of them took after their mother! So yeah, they kept Berk on its toes.

Other visitors now included the dragons of the Thunder Queen's nest and sometimes the Thunder Queen herself. Sometimes even the dragons brought a gift of their own, usually it would be a fresh exotic kill or a branch from a tree that bore fruit. In return the dragons were welcome to mingle with the dragons of Berk and dine from the feeding stations; and as a bonus, Toothless got to see his parents just about every time they came over.

* * *

><p>Once she grew into her toddler stage, Anora found out that, like her father, she could assume the form of a dragon at will; but she was a sea-green Stormcutter with lilac and blue accents.<p>

The first time this happened turned out to be an accident. Anora was almost two-years-old and Midnightfire was trying to teach her how to play fight; and as they got more invested in their tussle, Anora eventually found herself in a dragon form, and Midnightfire absolutely refused to allow their fathers to change Anora back until after she had the time to show Anora how to fly. She could get airborne for a few seconds, but for a human-toddler-turned-dragon coordinating four wings was just too tough to figure out. So Midnightfire gave up on it for now, and Anora somehow figured out how to return to human form on her own.

With Midnightfire still being a part of the subject, she did come to Hiccup and asked him about naming her breed. After all, she wasn't a Night Fury, but a subspecies, like the Screaming Death was the subspecies of a Whispering Death.

Well, for their ability to take in the lightning and after finding out that they could fly better than Night Furies in storms for some reason yet to be discovered, Hiccup decided to pronounce Midnightfire's breed a Storm Fury. Fitting, but not as obvious as something like: 'Lightning Fury'.

* * *

><p>As far as the general routine for Hiccup's Dragon Nights went, they basically went something like this:<p>

Sun goes down, 'POOF' he's either a Storm Fury or Lightning Fury, he found out that he could pick between those two. After the dizzy spell wore off, Toothless and Sapphire encouraged him into play fighting with them. Sometimes he would play one of their games, but other times he just wanted to get into the sky right away, and that normally led into Toothless chasing after him.

All in all, everything was going smoothly on Berk, and the new life of the Dragon Chief was the perfect balance of peace and chaos, just to make it fun.


	25. Chapter 25: A Word

**A Word**

So, thank you for all of your participation and support. For what it's worth, I actually think that_ The Dragonstone Tribe_ was a better story over _Resurfaced and a Dragonstone_. It actually surprised me because I went into this story not knowing where I would eventually take it; but hey, I think I set up a good plot with a couple of unexpected turns.

**That's what I think. So, which one of the stories did you like best? I would also like to know what your favorite parts were as well as your favorite OC's, and why do you like them so much? That is because the...**

**STORY WILL CONTINUE!**

**If you provide the answers to my inquires, I will take them into account. I can throw in similar situations and put more focus into your favorite OC's. **

Be sure to look for my name!

-UnknownBlackHand


	26. Alert

**Did you enjoy The Dragonstone Tribe?**

**Look for: Of Claws and Dragonstones.**


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